History Main / PlacebotinumEffect

* In the Blue King run of the CityOfHeroes tie-in comic, [[TheSmartGuy Horus's]] [[MadScience technology]] turns out to have been this.

* In ''CityOfHeroes'', [[spoiler:the Clockwork are this way -- though they seem to be [[PunkPunk Clockpunk]] constructs, they're really animated by the Clockwork King's will.]] The [=PsychoChronoMetron=] relies on an interesting variation of this trope; while it originally worked by using psychic energy to alter the timeline and change reality, it is eventually disabled by not only unmaking its own history, but altering reality so it could no longer work, just in case anyone else reinvented it. It's hinted that the device also empowered the people who used it in the past to make such reality-altering changes, retconning itself into a PlacebotinumEffect MagicFeather.
* VideoGame/BraveSoul has one of the clients send you after a supposedly magic flute that can charm animals. The flute turns out to be an ordinary flute and it was the owner's charisma that charmed the animals instead. The client isn't pleased.

* ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'': The titular virtual reality network is observed to be "impossibly real" by the characters immersed in it, with a degree of fidelity that current technology should be unable to create. It also has no observable latency, can prevent users from being able to feel or interact with their own bodies, and can create [[BrownNote dangerous]] or [[YourMindMakesItReal deadly]] biofeedback even for those without direct neural connections. It turns out that this is because the mysterious AI at the heart of the network's operating system is in fact a [[spoiler:BrainInAJar with PsychicPowers]].

[[folder:Film]]
* In ''Film/TheMatrix'' Neo has to believe he can manipulate the laws of the matrix before he can actually do anything superhuman.
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* In ''ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlRevis'', Alchemy requires the use of a mana, essentially a spirit that lends it's power to help the transmutation. However [[spoiler: the main character's mana isn't a Mana at all, but an ordinary housecat. The main character himself is a mana of wishes and subconsiously gives his cat mana-like properties.]]

* At one point, {{Flash}} villain, the Weather Wizard, discovered that his Weather Wand did not actually work and that the weather control powers were his own.

* In Dave Van Domelen's online shared writing universe ''[[AcademyOfSuperheroes ASH]]'', lots of SuperHero gear is like this, due to the fact that all super-powers are [[MetaOrigin variations on an ability]] to break the laws of physics. At least one story mentions "inventions" that have nothing but a drawing of circuitry inside.

See also ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve, MagicFeather, MagicPoweredPseudoscience.

* In ''{{Deadlands}}'', Junkers from ''Hell on Earth'' work on the fine inventing principle of "Hell, that's close enough." Basically, they duct-tape together a bunch of parts that are kind of like what they need, then invoke the power of the [[MagiTek technology spirits]] to make all the separate parts function like they "should".
* In MutantsAndMasterminds' ''{{Paragons}}'' setting (possibly as an homage to ''WildCards''), several paragons create "ACME devices", which are really expressions of their power, and are almost always unreproducible.

* In {{Rifts}}, the various superpowers of Crazies result from brain implants. Progressing neural degeneration can result in them believing that their powers come from sunlight, asparagus, etc.

* In AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/TomStrong'' comic, there's a flashback in which the villain has a phlogiston machine. In the present day, Tom and the villain briefly discuss how it's now known that phlogiston doesn't exist, yet the machine worked back then (no conclusion is reached as to why).

* In MutantsAndMasterminds' ''{{Paragons}}'' setting (possibly as an homage to ''WildCards), several paragons create "ACME devices", which are really expressions of their power, and are almost always unreproducible.

* Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}: Rose believes her magic to come from her eldritch knitting needles, but it is actually her innate power as the Seer of Light.

* ''Main/{{Sphere}}''

* In an episode of ''NewsRadio'', Joe creates an intelligence-enhancing potion and tests it on Matthew. The results are spectacular, quickly turning Matthew into the intellectual "Smatthew" (smart+Matthew) who is so smart that he can speed-read four books at once (two of which were upside-down. "Have ''you'' ever tried reading four books at once?") Unfortunately, it wore off after "Smatthew" became smart enough to realize it was just a placebo and he therefore only imagined he was getting smarter.

[[folder:{{Tabletop Game}}s]]

* In ''MagicTheGathering'''s MagicTheGathering/TimeSpiralCycle, the local GadgeteerGenius Venser has spent years developing a teleportation device that he calls an "ambulator". He finally manages to get it working. And it really ''does'' work, but pretty soon he's shocked when he discovers that, thanks to his latent planeswalker spark, he can teleport just fine without it.

* In the HarryPotter fic ''Dumbledore's Army'' Hermione discovered that Harry could accomplish absolutely anything as long as he didn't know it was magically impossible after he successfully conjured noble metals and gemstones. To test this, she made up a nonsense spell, "comburo fonticulis," and convinced Professor [=McGonagall=] to tell Harry that it was a spell which would produce a jet of flame in the middle of a solid block of metal without ever melting the metal itself. Needless to say, he not only got it to work but used it several times afterwards.

* The abilities of several of the characters in the ''WildCards'' novels work this way. One case mentioned involved a mad scientist who seemingly created a highly advanced robot. However, when the robot was cracked open, it contained no electronic or mecahanical components at all; just a collection of random junk. In this case, the MetaOrigin is a virus that induces specialized PsychicPowers.

* Flight in the HitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy universe works this way. It only continues to work so long as you don't think about how completely impossible it is.

** Actually in earlier comics he really needed the wand, making this either a case of {{Retcon}} or him being with the wand for so long he [[DeadlyUpgrade absorbed its powers.]]

* In ''TheMatrix'' Neo has to believe he can manipulate the laws of the matrix before he can actually do anything superhuman.

* {{Homestuck}}: Rose believes her magic to come from her eldritch knitting needles, but it is actually her innate power as the Seer of Light.

[[folder:ComicBooks]]
* In AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/TomStrong'' comic, there's a flashback in which the villain has a phlogiston machine. In the present day, Tom and the villain briefly discuss how it's now known that phlogiston doesn't exist, yet the machine worked back then (no conclusion is reached as to why).
* An issue of ''[[TheSimpsons Simpsons Comics]]'' reveals that most of Dr. Frink's devices work on this principle, and thus break down when his new assistant starts questioning his logic.

* At one point, {{Flash}} villain, the Weather Wizard, discovered that his Weather Wand did not actually work and that the weather control powers were his own.
** Actually in earlier comics he really needed the wand, making this either a case of [[{{Retcon}} Retcon]] or him being with the wand for so long he [[DeadlyUpgrade absorbed its powers.]]
* In the Blue King run of the CityOfHeroes tie-in comic, [[TheSmartGuy Horus]]'s [[MadScience technology]] turns out to have been this.

[[folder:{{Film}}]]

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

* In ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'', pretty much ''all'' Orkish technology works this way; any Orkish technology more advanced than a basic firearm or an internal combustion engine won't work for anyone else.
** Many of their more advanced "shootas" merely have some bullets and gears inside them, and it's their PsychicPowers that actually make the weapons work.
** Orkish tanks go faster when they're painted red. There's no scientific reason, but the PsychicPowers of the Orks make it so.

* In ''{{Deadlands}}'', Junkers from ''Hell on Earth'' work on the fine inventing principle of "Hell, that's close enough." Basically, they duct-tape together a bunch of parts that are kind of like what they need, then invoke the power of the [[MagiTek technology spirits]] to make all the separate parts function like they "should".

[[folder:VideoGames]]

[[folder:{{Webcomics}}]]

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

** On the plus side, at least Devisers aren't vulnerable to being told their machine doesn't work. Most of the time.

* In the {{Harry Potter}} fic ''Dumbledore's Army'' Hermione discovered that Harry could accomplish absolutely anything as long as he didn't know it was magically impossible after he successfully conjured noble metals and gemstones. To test this, she made up a nonsense spell, "comburo fonticulis," and convinced Professor [=McGonagall=] to tell Harry that it was a spell which would produce a jet of flame in the middle of a solid block of metal without ever melting the metal itself. Needless to say, he not only got it to work but used it several times afterwards.

* BraveSoul has one of the clients send you after a supposedly magic flute that can charm animals. The flute turns out to be an ordinary flute and it was the owner's charisma that charmed the animals instead. The client isn't pleased.

* "Where No One Has Gone Before", an early episode of ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', had a scientist try to upgrade the engines on the Enterprise. It turned out that his upgrades were (nearly) useless, but his assistant had psychic powers that were activated by the [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve belief of the crew]], enhanced because they warped to a section of the universe where reality was more susceptible to thought

* In the {{Harry Potter}} fic ''Dumbledore's Army'' Hermione discovered that Harry could accomplish absolutely anything as long as he didn't know it was magically impossible after he successfully conjured noble metals and gemstones. To test this, she made up a nonsense spell, "comburo fonticulis," and convinced Professor McGonagall to tell Harry that it was a spell which would produce a jet of flame in the middle of a solid block of metal without ever melting the metal itself. Needless to say, he not only got it to work but used it several times afterwards.

* In the {{Harry Potter}} fic ''Dumbledore's Army'' Hermione discovered that Harry could accomplish absolutely anything as long as he didn't know it was magically impossible after he successfully conjured noble metals and gemstones. To test this, she made up a nonsense spell, "comburo fonticulis," and convinced McGonagall to tell Harry that it was a spell which would produce a jet of flame in the middle of a solid block of metal without ever melting the metal itself. Needless to say, he not only got it to work but used it several times afterwards.