History Main / VoodooShark

## All was well until Marvel Editor in Chief Bob Harras [[ExecutiveMeddling insisted that Aunt May be brought back from the dead]]. It didn't matter that Aunt May's death was handled (in the eyes of many) beautifully and realistically, it didn't matter how much of a TearJerker it was. And it didn't matter that there was a funeral, and the characters and the books had moved on (with a baby to be [[DeadGuyJunior named after her]] on the way). Harras was the boss, and his word was law.

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** Really, it was just BadWriting made to justify [[YourMileageMayVary what the developers thought was]] a significant improvement in gameplay. The ammo mechanic is a way to avoid the static combat sometimes present in the first game, but at the same time the attempted justification for it in the story was horribly weak.
*** Am I the only one who liked the new way better?

* [[Lost "What did one snowman say to the other snowman?" "Does it smell like carrots?"]] So many new questions are raised - how are there talking snowmen? How can they smell their own noses? [[spoiler: What was with the giant plug?]]

*** So vampire blood is homeopathic?
**** Perhaps more importantly, this implies that a vampire child's body is literally made out of venom? Ironically it may have been ''easier'' for Meyer to simply declare that Bella has a magical power (or a strange condition) that somehow keeps her from menstruating. [[UnfortunateImplications Or that she's somehow gotten access to one of those "four-periods-a-year" medications.]]

** Early in Volume 5, [[spoiler: Danko]] is unceremoniously gutted in his own home by a KnifeNut FragileSpeedster to obtain a PlotCoupon that was somehow in his abdomen. [[TheyJustDidntCare They don't even TRY to explain this]].

*** Of course, there's no reason both couldn't be true.

** Midichlorians. TheForce wasn't anything close to FridgeLogic or a WallBanger or anything like that. It was just some sort of vaguely-explained energy or power that people could tap into, and the Force was strong with Luke. The WallBanger comes in when attempts at DoingInTheWizard result in Midichlorians. So... We now have a sort of vaguely-explained energy or power that people could tap into by use of a vaguely-explained biological phenomena, and Anakin has a high concentration of Midichlorians. Did it really need to be that complicated to say the Force was strong with Anikin.
*** It wasn't really DoingInTheWizard so much as giving one's proficiency with the Force a [[PowerLevels measurable numerical value]].

** That's fate being a sadistic bastard who likes playing with people before killing them off with extreme prejudice for no real reason besides his own amusement.

** The issue that introduced this explanation included the phrase "This ship was indestructible, but now it's in pieces." Enough said.
*** Okay, there's just no excuse for that.

* Defied in ''TransformersAnimated''. [[WordOfGod The writers]] announced that they would not be revealing anything about the origins of the Allspark, because the explanation would run the risk of being so bizarre that it shattered the audience's willing suspension of disbelief.

Another variation is using this as a piss poor setup for a [=~Chekhov's Gun~=]. Let's imagine you [[AssShove pull a gun out of your ass]] at the end of a play. That would be an AssPull. Let's say you have the gun on the mantelpiece from the beginning. That would be [=~Chekhov's Gun~=]. Let's say you pull a gun out of your ass, put it on the mantelpiece, and then it's used at the end of a play. That would be another form of this trope. [[LawOfConservationOfDetail The detail is introduced]], but [[AssPull it's still out of nowhere]].

->"''That's what a [[TropeNamer voodoo shark]] is - when your story depends on something so moronic, that there's no way of explaining it without resorting to something that's '''equally''' stupid!''"
-->[[SciFiDebris Chuck Sonnenberg]], "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfuHzBkzStk#t=4m42s Opinionated Voyager Episode Guide, The Cloud]]"

->'''Zoidberg''': My [underwater] home, it burned down! How could this have happened?
->'''Hermes''': That's a very good question!

->'''Hermes''': THAT JUST RAISES ''FURTHER'' QUESTIONS!
--> ''{{Futurama}}''

The writers catch a particularly bad PlotHole, FridgeLogic magnet, or DarthWiki/WallBanger, but they leave it in because it is still critical to the story. The VoodooShark is the attempt to HandWave it rather than disrupt the story -- and the HandWave ''itself'' is a PlotHole, a FridgeLogic moment, or a WallBanger.

* In the first ''MassEffect'', It was explained that the guns don't need ammo because they work by stripping sand-grain-sized bits of matter off of a chunk of metal and accelerating them to ultra-high speed, which means they have unlimited ammo for the purposes of gameplay - instead, the guns have an overheat mechanic. However, then the sequel comes along with an ammo mechanic, which is explained as disposable heatsinks. However, the absolute blatancy of how they're an ammo stand in has [[YourMileageMayvary rubbed some fans the wrong way]].

* Fire Emblem Path of Radiance: In the Fire Emblem series, when killing an ennemy, you can only get some specifically tagged items. That's fine, since getting all the items in the game (and possibly selling them) would be a huge game breaker. But in Path of Radiance, it's justified, as moral principles from Greil's Mercenaries: it's morally unacceptable to loot dead people. Then, two questions arise: Why some items don't follow that rule, since you still grab some items upon killing some enemies? And, if I understand it well, looting a dead men is wrong, but pickpocketting a still alive (but not for long, since you will frag them after the theft, won't you?) soldier is right?

-->''Captain'': Arr! Take that, you scurvy equine!\\
''First Mate'': [[IncrediblyLamePun But captain, that horse be dead!]]

-->'''Stewie''': Say, Brian, now that I think about it, how can you possibly have a thirteen-year-old son when you yourself are only seven?\\
'''Brian''': Well, those are dog years.\\
'''Stewie''': That doesn't make any sense.\\
'''Brian''': You know what, Stewie? If you don't like it, go on the internet and complain.

[[folder: Real Life]]
* Arguably quantum mechanics. They explain alot, but so far no one can make them compatible with Newtonian physics.
** There is the string theory which connects quantum & Newtonian physics, but is rather controversial.
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* Fire Emblem Path of Radiance: In the Fire Emblem series, when killing an ennemy, you can only get some specifically tagged items. That's fine, since getting all the items in the game (and possibly selling them) would be a huge game breaker. But in Path of Radiance, it's justified, as moral principles from Greil's Mercenaries: it's morally unacceptable to loot dead people. Then, two questions arise: Why some items don't follow that rule, since you still grab some items upon killing some ennemies? And, if I understand it well, looting a dead men is wrong, but pickpocketting a still alive (but not for long, since you will frag them after the theft, won't you?) soldier is right?

* Arguably quantum mechanics. They explain alot, but so far no one can make them compatible with Newtonian mechanics.

->'''Hermes''': THAT JUST RAISES FURTHER QUESTIONS!