History Main / UnpredictableResults

* ''{{Bionicle}}'''s {{Unobtainium}}, Energized Protodermis either transforms all that comes into contact with it into [[BecauseDestinySaysSo whatever its destiny calls for]], or simply destroys it. This goes for everything, from objects to living beings. Then, there are the Reconstitute at Random Kanoka Disks, which transform their target into who-knows-what, [[TeleportersAndTransporters Teleportation disks]], which teleport the targets to random locations, and the Mask of Summoning, which summons random creatures whom the mask's user unfortunately has no control over.

* The Wand of Wonder from ''BaldursGate'' strikes whoever its pointed at with a random effect.

* There are a ''lot'' of cards in ''VideoGame/{{Hearthstone}}'' with extremely unpredictable random effects. Many of them generally benefit the user, such as gaining a cheaper copy of almost ''any'' minion [[http://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Unstable_Portal (Unstable Portal)]] or any spell [[http://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Nexus-Champion_Saraad (Nexus-Champion Saraad)]] in the entire game[[note]]These ARE limited to collectable cards i.e not ones that are in turn created by other cards such a Ysera[[/note]]. More extreme examples can end up backfiring on the user, such as [[http://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Gelbin_Mekkatorque Gelbin Mekkatorque]], who summons a random invention that either do positive or negative things to ''any'' character, or [[https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Yogg-Saron,_Hope%27s_End Yogg-Saron]], who casts a '''completely random on a completely random target''' for each spell the player had used previously. There's a sizeable BrokenBase over whether this is fun or utterly infuriating.

* There are a ''lot'' of cards in ''VideoGame/{{Hearthstone}}'' with extremely unpredictable random effects, up to and including giving players a copy of almost ''any'' minion [[http://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Unstable_Portal (Unstable Portal)]] or spell [[http://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Nexus-Champion_Saraad (Nexus-Champion Saraad)]] in the entire game[[note]]These ARE limited to collectable cards i.e not ones that are in turn created by other cards such a Ysera[[/note]]. There's a sizeable BrokenBase over whether this is fun or utterly infuriating.

* The neurotransmitter Promicin, in ''Series/TheFortyFourHundred'' is described as unpredictable -- somebody injected with it will either gain a superpower or drop dead, and there is no way of predicting what that will be.
* In ''Series/{{Lost}}'''s season 4 finale, [[spoiler:moving the island]] is said to be "both dangerous and unpredictable" (partly to explain why it wasn't done before.) We know it resulted in [[spoiler:transporting Ben to Tunisia ten months into the future, but we have no idea where or when the island is.]]
** Now we do, sort of, it [[spoiler: was sent skipping through time randomly across thousands of years. Kind of. Because we definitely saw it disappear to the Oceanic Six, but only the Losties (and not the Others) were moving in time on the Island]]. It's complicated basically.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': Anything connected to the Warp or Ork technology. Represented ingame by psykers suffering "perils of the warp" attacks and more esoteric Orky wargear having its own tables of random effects. Ork psykers are beyond random, rolling just to see what completely-unpredictable power they get... every turn.

* In an episode of ''PinkyAndTheBrain'', The Brain warns Pinky never to use more than one drop of his shrinking serum, because "it would cause a reaction on the molecular level that is completely unpredictable"; the reaction turns out to be turning people into huge yodeling clog dancers.

* ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' and its Omega-13, though its results are successfully predicted near the end.

* The [[WildCards Wild Card]] virus.

* The Heart of Gold's improbability drive in ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' works by producing a near-infinite number of unpredictable results and then "picking" the desired one (usually going from Point A to Point B) and sticking with it. Of course, the temporary side effects of engaging it (such as turning into a penguin or generating sperm whales) aren't exactly pleasant.

* TruthInTelevision: Change just ''one line'' of a sufficiently complex piece of code without fully understanding what it does.
** Segmentation Fault. Core Dumped.

* The roleplaying game ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has the ''Wand of Wonder'' (the ''Rod of Wonder'' in later editions)-- a magic item whose effect is randomly determined from a table of 50 or so possibilities each time it's activated. Possible effects range from shooting fireballs to turning a random combatant into a rhinocerous, and a popular pasttime on the game's official forums is coming up with new and even more bizarre effects for the item.

* Collapsing a hypergate in TheLostFleet can cause an explosion anywhere between "tactical nuke" and "supernova".

* In ''{{Lost}}'''s season 4 finale, [[spoiler:moving the island]] is said to be "both dangerous and unpredictable" (partly to explain why it wasn't done before.) We know it resulted in [[spoiler:transporting Ben to Tunisia ten months into the future, but we have no idea where or when the island is.]]

** Previous versions of D&D had a LOT of utterly random effects, usually as dungeon features. The module "In Search Of The Unknown" had a set of magic pools whose effects when drunk changed with every sip.
* Enter the Mists of {{Ravenloft}} without a Vistani guide, and you could find yourself wandering for any amount of time, from minutes to months or (rarely) even ''decades''. Likewise, you could end up in some other Ravenloft domain, come right back to where you started from, be dropped off on your world of origin (if you're an outlander and your DM is merciful), or even get deposited on a completely ''different'' D&D campaign world from your own.

* Beware if you play as a Necromancer in the UsefulNotes/FurryFandom version of D&D, ''{{Ironclaw}}''; if you try to cast a spell, and you roll at least 3 6's, you'll get hit with a magical backlash that does totally random (but always negative) things. In fact, the official rulebook encourages dungeonmasters to get as creative as they could with what happens.
* Magic is like this in {{GURPS}}. When it fails it does so in extremely random ways. There are at least six different official tables of backlash effects ranging from "Black Magic" (which results in BodyHorror) all the way to Cosmic Humor (which causes reality to mock you in the most painful way it can).

* Beware if you play as a Necromancer in the FurryFandom version of D&D, ''{{Ironclaw}}''; if you try to cast a spell, and you roll at least 3 6's, you'll get hit with a magical backlash that does totally random (but always negative) things. In fact, the official rulebook encourages dungeonmasters to get as creative as they could with what happens.

* The roleplaying game ''DungeonsAndDragons'' has the ''Wand of Wonder'' (the ''Rod of Wonder'' in later editions)-- a magic item whose effect is randomly determined from a table of 50 or so possibilities each time it's activated. Possible effects range from shooting fireballs to turning a random combatant into a rhinocerous, and a popular pasttime on the game's official forums is coming up with new and even more bizarre effects for the item.

* The various shipboard items used to fight [[http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/162/the-awful-green-things-from-outer-space ''The Awful Green Things From Outer Space'']] might injure them, cause them to grow, or do nothing at all, completely at random. However, any specific item continues to have consistent results once it's been used.

* In the webcomic ''TalesOfTheQuestor'', Quentyn's magic sword, Wildcard, could go from unstoppable to useless with every attack due to the unique way it was first charged (A night of drunken spellcasting by Quentyn and his friends).
* Roughly 50% of Riff's inventions in ''SluggyFreelance'' work like this. The Dimensional Flux Agitator has a particularly spotty record.
* The [[DeusExMachina shield of wonder]] from ''{{Goblins}}'', which has a massively varied number of random effects when struck.

->--The Skeletor Show

* Red kryptonite has unpredictable effects on ''{{Superman}}'' which last for forty-eight hours and are never repeated. As the essay ''[[http://news.ansible.co.uk/plotdev.html The Well Tempered Plot Device]]'' puts it, this means the writer can try on any daft idea they like with no effect to the comic's continuity.

Essentially, the opposite of FunctionalMagic. RandomEffectSpell is a subtrope.

* Red mana in ''MagicTheGathering'' is the color of randomness, chaos and unpredictability. Most of the time that appears in the form of cards that happen to interact like that; for example, creatures attacking the turn they come into play and changing the targets of other effects are both red abilities, and both result in unpredictable game states, especially for your opponents. Some effects, though, genuinely require players to randomize things, such as by flipping a coin or rolling a dice. In its most extreme form, the card [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=220300 Scrambleverse]] will assign every card in play to a new controller chosen at random.

* ''Any'' casting in ''{{FATAL}}'', with possible miscast effects including "caster thinks he's a cat" (funny), "caster becomes a serial rapist" (not funny, but [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor apparently intended to be]]), "caster gets raped by gay ogres" (DudeNotFunny) and "accidentally casts [[TitleDrop F.]][[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt A.]][[MercyKill T.]][[KillEmAll A.]][[TotalPartyKill L.]]" (a wonderful chance to play a different game).

* The [[DeusExMachina shield]] from ''{{Goblins}}'', which has a massively varied number of random effects when struck.

->''"I mean you turn it on, and'' ''[[DivideByZero reality breaks.]]"''

* The neurotransmitter Promicin, in ''{{The4400}}'' is described as unpredictable -- somebody injected with it will either gain a superpower or drop dead, and there is no way of predicting what that will be.