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1->''"In this kind of story the pseudo-scientific apparatus should be taken simply as a machine in the sense which the word bore for the Neo-classical critics. The most superficial appearance of plausibility--the merest sop to our critical intellect--will do."''
2-->-- '''Creator/CSLewis''', ''On Science Fiction''.
3
4A WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief is a must for every work of fiction. There are certain elements of story or gameplay where realism would simply make a work tedious, difficult, or confusing for the audience. Thus there are ways in which works will be blatantly, unabashedly unrealistic, and nobody really minds. See the RuleOfIndex.
5
6It's possible for these to become unacceptable, when the abstraction gets in the way of enjoying the work. On the flip side, it's possible to get so accustomed to a particular break from reality that [[TheCoconutEffect people stop realizing it's unrealistic]].
7
8Of course, different people have different tolerances for the balance between "abstraction" and "simulation," which means that some media creators make conscious and deliberate efforts to avert at least some of these tropes. [[SimulationGame Those sorts]] [[FunForSome of things]], however, tend to cater toward a rather niche crowd. Even then, there's still a small measure of abstraction and/or ModularDifficulty options simply to prevent things from getting too tedious.
9
10Overlaps with TheLawOfConservationOfDetail, for those tropes that could be justified but aren't worth the time. AntiFrustrationFeatures are a related trope in video games, but are more about when gameplay elements or rules are temporarily changed or suspended to make the game easier for a specific section.
11
12Note that despite the title, these tropes are about realism, not reality. Some of them may be TruthInTelevision. (RealityIsUnrealistic, after all.)
13
14Compare with {{Cliche}} for when these acceptable breaks are expected by the audience and SugarWiki/FavoriteTrope for when the audience loves seeing them in use regardless if the trope is realistic or not.
15----
16
17[[foldercontrol]]
18
19!! Forms of Acceptable Breaks From Reality include:
20
21[[index]]
22[[folder:General]]
23* TwentyFourHourArmor: Characters constantly wearing armor may be unrealistic, but it makes them easy to identify and cuts down on design costs. See also InformedEquipment.
24* FiveFiveFive: Because if you'd use real phone numbers in fiction, people would keep dialing them and put those poor guys who happen to have these numbers through an uneasy time.[[note]]The most famous example is the song "867-5309/Jenny" which caused the exact thing to happen.[[/note]]
25* AcousticLicense: Because, really, five exchanges of "what did you say?" in between every interesting line of dialogue would go beyond boring.
26* AliensSpeakingEnglish: And with perfect American/British/Australian/wherever-the-work-was-made {{a|liensOfLondon}}ccents too!
27* AlreadyUndoneForYou: Someone already got through this trap-laden dungeon to wait for the hero, so why are the traps still there? It wouldn't be dramatic, otherwise!
28* AnnoyingArrows: Having your hero(es) killed or disabled by a single arrow wouldn't be nearly as entertaining, so the damage done by arrows in fiction is heavily downplayed.
29* ArtificialGravity: Virtually all Sci-Fi starships have some form of artificial gravity. This carries over to video games because it's difficult to make tight control systems for moving in 3D space using only analog sticks and buttons, not to mention that moving around in a weightless environment can be counter-intuitive (and thus, frustrating) for humans who have only ever been on Earth.
30* ArtisticLicenseBiology: No, the work doesn't follow actual biology, but if it did, we wouldn't have a very good story.
31* ArtisticLicenseLaw: To the extent that litigation is dramatic, almost none of it happens in the courtroom. But the way it actually plays out, i.e. trading written motions over several months, doesn't exactly make for gripping television.
32* ArtisticLicenseMartialArts: Fight scenes are usually very dramatic, adding to a good story. Slow, concentrated movements don't make for exciting scenes.
33* ArtisticLicensePhysics: No, the work doesn't follow actual physics, but if it did, we wouldn't have a very good story.
34* ArtisticLicensePolitics: The story doesn't follow political procedures correctly, which is for the better because otherwise it would be extremely boring.
35* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: Having a character's appearance coincidentally match their personality, occupation and powerset is a good way to convey what they're all about at a glance.
36* AutomatonHorses: Horses never have to be watered, fed, or rested in most media, because it's usually not relevant to the story. (See PlotPoweredStamina.)
37* BenevolentArchitecture: Architecture and geography seem to be designed for that genre and your character's abilities, because if you wanted 100% realistic driving in a racing game you could play a simulator instead.
38* BigDamnFireExit: Because dashing through flames to the exit is [[RuleOfCool just that cool!]]
39* BloodlessCarnage: If there weren't times where devastating injuries ''didn't'' lead to bloodshed, a lot of stories wouldn't be very family-friendly.
40* BottomlessBladder: Fictional characters don't have to do mundane things like use the restroom unless the story dictates it, because they're [[LawOfConservationOfDetail needless and unimportant diversions from the plot.]]
41* BottomlessMagazines: Characters get unlimited shots, because who wants to stop the action to reload?
42* BulletproofHumanShield: Having the ActionHero survive gunfire by hiding behind a {{Mook}} might not be realistic, but it's definitely cool.
43* ChaosArchitecture: Building dungeons from the ground up can take up far more time than programming a random dungeon generator, and locations become boring if they look identical game after game.
44* CleanPrettyChildbirth: Because real-life childbirth is bloody and rather disgusting and real newborns are not all that cute at first. It also tends to take longer in real life. On top of that, there are laws meant to protect babies and those have to be followed.
45* TheCoconutEffect: Something in the work is inaccurate, but is included anyway because audiences expect it to be that way.
46* ConcealmentEqualsCover: It would be frustrating to get into what you think is cover only to find out that your enemy can still hit you just fine.
47* ConvectionSchmonvection: Otherwise, you wouldn't get to [[LethalLavaLand go into volcanoes]] and fight [[PlayingWithFire fire enemies]], which makes a lot of potentially awesome fights impossible. Plus, [[FakeDifficulty the game would get too hard if you had to fight off the invisible heat as well as the enemies.]]
48* ConvenientWeaknessPlacement: Having conventional "weapon vs. weapon" bosses can get monotonous, and unbeatable bosses defeat the point of having bosses, so you've got to include ''something'' to deal damage with.
49* ConvenientlyClosePlanet: Everything in space being way closer than it is in real life.
50* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: In terms of technique, you can't do realistic-looking CPR on a live actor without injuring their ribs. While it's easy to avert the "Reliable" part, "Clean" and "Pretty" are much more difficult, as it would require significant makeup and rigging to truly make it look realistic--getting almost to the point of {{Gorn}}.
51* CranialPlateAbility: When a character acquires new abilities thanks to a steel piece implanted (accidentally or via surgery) in their head.
52* EternallyPearlyWhiteTeeth: Actors generally have healthy teeth, even when the medieval characters they're portraying wouldn't. But hey, our heroes have to look good.
53* ExplosionsInSpace: Should be impossible, [[StuffBlowingUp but...]]
54* FourthWall: One many people gloss over, but still there. In any play, characters will always face each other so both faces can be seen from one particular wall. And though there are assorted important doors, windows, etc. on all three walls, that fourth one never has any important features, despite the fact that everyone keeps standing facing it. However, looking at the back of people's heads doesn't make for great storytelling.
55* FreeRangeChildren: Otherwise a lot of stories about children would be either boring, require parents to supervise the adventure, or be made of {{angst}} about how nosy parents can be.
56* FreeRangePets: It'd get boring if the animal protagonists were stuck at home all day, especially if their owners don't have any other pets to interact with.
57* FriendsRentControl: Having a home larger than a character should be able to afford because in a realistically small apartment, the actors would always be getting in each other's way. It also makes for easier filming, since realistic apartments are generally not laid out in a camera-friendly way.
58* GoldSilverCopperStandard: Because who honestly wants to realistically calculate relative market values and exchange rates?
59* GunsInChurch: It may be unrealistic that the heroes are allowed to take their guns anywhere without consequence, but stopping to explain it would take time away from cool and exciting action sequences.
60* HardHead: Dying from a head injury would make characters too vulnerable. When it's done in a video game or movie that has a vulnerable protagonist, then that's great.
61* HighPressureBlood: If flesh wounds didn't ever lead to massive tsunamis of blood draining out of living creatures, a lot of films, television shows, {{comic book}}s, and {{video game}}s wouldn't be as visually dramatic as they really are.
62* HitSpark: Just in case you missed someone getting slapped in the face.
63* HollywoodDarkness: When you want to see that it's dark, but the audience still wants to ''see'' in the dark. Being forced to rely on senses other than sight can be done well in media, but it can also make things confusing.
64* HollywoodHacking: Because ''real'' hacking is actually quite boring and would become worthless after the technology is exposed.
65* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: If the bad guys were perfect shots, the movie wouldn't be very long.
66* InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace: Having lights on the inside of a helmet makes it largely impossible to see out of it in an otherwise dark environment, but otherwise we would be unable to see the characters' faces.
67* InfiniteFlashlight: A flashlight that never runs out of batteries or needs to be recharged, except if the plot demands or if it's a gameplay mechanic. The occasional horror genre game will limit this, but even there being unable to see runs into the same problems as HollywoodDarkness above. Related to NuclearCandle, where the flashlight will also produce an unrealistic amount of light.
68* InsecurityCamera: You can easily just {{destroy the security camera}}s or otherwise make them useless and nobody will be alarmed by it. Unless there's a very smart supervisor present, at best it'll be dismissed as a temporary glitch to not worry about. Stealth games often need this trope, as otherwise your location options are limited to either universe without camera surveillance or before the 1900s.
69* InstantSedation: Because we don't have 15 minutes of valuable airtime to waste watching a tranquilizer go into effect.
70* InstantWinCondition: When you clear a game stage, all the troubles, death traps, remaining enemies, etc. are completely ignored, because you won. When this is averted, it can become a HopeSpot, or worse, a KaizoTrap.
71* IronButtMonkey: No matter how much damage he suffers, he just keeps coming back, because a character intended to be PluckyComicRelief becomes less so when what's supposed to be humor winds up hurting or killing them.
72* KidHero: In reality, allowing or actively putting a child in [[HarmfulToMinors any kind of danger]] is a big no-no. But kid readers want to see people like them be heroic.
73* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: Because they can only afford to hire so many actors, and besides, it's hard to get invested in a constant stream of new characters.
74* MajorCharacterMainstreamAccent: The main character speaks in a relatively neutral accent, usually for the audience's benefit.
75* MuzzleFlashlight: You have no flashlight, so just start firing your weapons and follow the muzzle flash! If you can't see, you can't really fight effectively.
76* NewsTravelsFast: As soon as something important happens in the plot, everyone in the world will know about it, since taking time to show its journey down the grapevine is the sort of detail that's usually unimportant.
77* NoCureForEvil: A lot of enemies can't heal, especially since this would get ''very'' annoying for some particularly hard enemies. Aversions are often designed with this trope in mind.
78* NoOSHACompliance: Wacky Shenanigans in construction sites and factories in fiction would be nowhere near possible (or [[RuleOfFun fun]]) in real life without someone being fired or put in prison, but in the world of fiction, you can be as negligent and unsafe as much as you want. So if you want to go for a jog on that spinning cogwheel or play chicken with a hydraulic press, go on ahead. The inverse of this trope can also count, particularly in theme parks and similar settings. Even if you're constructing immersive replicas of historic landmarks or fantastical worlds, they still need to conform to modern building standards, be accessible to individuals with limited mobility and feature clearly signposted safety information in the locally relevant languages.
79* NoPeriodsPeriod: [[TakeOurWordForIt You just don't go there]].
80* NobodyPoops: At least not onscreen. (See BottomlessBladder.)
81* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Because sometimes we just have little to no frame of reference for how these people would "realistically" sound speaking a "modern" language.
82* NuclearCandle: A small light source will be able to light a huge area rather brightly. This is usually done for the viewer's convenience.
83* OlympusMons: The game allows the player to [[CapturedSuperEntity capture and control creatures]] that would realistically never follow the instructions of some [[KidHero preteen hero]], because not allowing it [[RuleOfFun wouldn't be any fun at all]].
84* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: Introducing another OneShotCharacter for each new type of science question that comes up in a story is a bit excessive just for the sake of averting this trope.
85* OneDoseFitsAll: Much like with InstantSedation above, it would be an unnecessary distraction to have characters calculate the dosage of tranquilizer, poison, etc. per person before administering it.
86* OneSteveLimit: Unless there's a specific storytelling reason for it, having characters with the same or similar names would only make it harder for the audience to follow along.
87* OneTrueFaith: A work of ScienceFiction or {{Fantasy}} has only one religion (TheChurch) in it; furthermore, there are never any factions of it or different interpretations of its belief. This is mostly to [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail keep to the things that are important to the plot.]] If a new religion appears expect it to be an evil organization run by the BigBad.
88* OptionalTrafficLaws: Drivers can safely ignore all the rules of the road, often with no more consequence than at worst, a bystander making a rude hand gesture and/or being profane towards the driver.
89* PainfullySlowProjectile: Bullets are slow enough to {{dodge|TheBullet}}. Especially common in {{Platform|Game}} and ShootEmUp games. This is sometimes counterbalanced by OneHitKill mechanics or significant {{knockback}}, but having bullets instantly hit you makes for [[NintendoHard incredibly difficult levels.]]
90* PatchworkMap: Geographical biomes and regions that should not be able to exist next door to each other can still do so. This is sometimes to help fulfill the LawOfCartographicalElegance, sometimes because we don't want to spend so much time describing all the traveling across continents the heroes did, sometimes because the locals used that much magic in the area and sometimes because having a story or game with nothing but grassland areas is boring.
91* PedalToTheMetalShot: Because slow movements of the accelerate pedal don't translate well to the camera.
92* PoliceAreUseless: There are many legitimate satirical or practical reasons this trope may be employed. But in many more examples, this trope simply exists because a lot of plots would be trivialized if characters could just call the emergency services and have them deal with whatever problem they're facing.
93* PresentDayPast: Frequently seen in television true-crime re-enactments where the production budget and time isn't sufficient to fully recreate things as they would have looked decades ago. As the focus tends to be on the investigations, it's not really critical a modern police patrol car is standing in for one from the 1980s, and as long as they don't make it too obvious such as showing personal computers or people using smartphones.
94* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The higher a character is in his hierarchy, the better he is in a fight. Why? So it's easy to know who to look out for.
95* RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic: Having everyone speak like they would in real life would just make a reader think that [[RougeAnglesOfSatin they never bothered]] [[WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma to check their work]] or just make it hard for them to understand what's being said.
96* TheReveal: Not only for other characters to catch up to the events, but ''also'' so the viewer is on the same page as the characters. Sometimes literally.
97* RibcageStomach: The inside of a creature's stomach looks like the inside of the entire creature lacking organs. Without this trope, say goodbye to the WombLevel.
98* RiskingTheKing: The people in charge take direct action when other people are available to do it for them. This not only gets more plot-important characters involved in the action, but it also prevents a scenario where the victorious army has to also chase down the fleeing leader.
99* RockStarParking: Because no one wants to put the story on hold for half an hour while the characters are looking for a spot.
100* RuleOfCool: Yeah, it's totally unrealistic, but ''man'', it looks awesome.
101* RuleOfFunny: Some stuff that's PlayedForLaughs is funny ''only'' because it's ''not real'', namely VideoGameCrueltyPotential or ComedicSociopathy. In RealLife? Not so much.
102* SeeTheWhitesOfTheirEyes: Most ship-to-ship and air-to-air (and ''especially'' starship-to-starship) battles occur at ranges where visual sightings are impossible -- but shooting at seemingly nothing doesn't look interesting, so combatants will instead be shown much closer than they really would be.
103* ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon: The inability of [[TheGunslinger a long-range weapon user]] to use said weapon at long range because long-range fights aren't as exciting.
104* SingleIssuePsychology: Real people's mental states and issues can be very complex. To save time and trouble, fictional people's mental problems will usually hinge on some critical memory or issue; addressing this will cause rapid improvement.
105* SoftWater: A fall from any height at all can be rendered harmless or merely incapacitating if, at the end of the fall, the character meets a body of water. This is mostly for drama's sake, as if a story started out with an airplane crash it would be over awfully quick if this trope averted.
106* SoleEntertainmentOption: In the entire in-work world, there's only one kind of entertainment or only one city where you can find it. It often shows up in the MinigameZone, and making a massive bank of minigames to choose from can take unnecessary time for what is often an optional area to get [[InfinityPlusOneSword rare and powerful items]], so having it in only one location is more convenient for both developers and players.
107* SteelEarDrums: Nobody is ever bothered by extremely loud noises unless it serves the plot, for the same reason as AcousticLicense.
108* SuperSwimmingSkills: If (or once) you know [[SuperNotDrowningSkills how to swim]], you'll do it perfectly and for as long as you like, because oftentimes learning how to swim is not the point of the game, so there's little point in making it a comprehensive mechanic.
109* SurprisinglyFunctionalToys: When a character is shrunk and encounters a recognizable object scaled to their new size, said object will retain the functionality and properties of its original size (a toy car will have a functional engine and steering wheel, and the interior will be fully detailed, for example). If it didn't, then being small would have little purpose other than taking a much longer time to get from one place to another (see SpaceCompression).
110* SuspiciouslySmallArmy: Micromanaging or representing a military force on the scale of most modern armed forces would likely destroy either one's patience or video card.
111* TerrifyingPetStoreRat: Wild animals are difficult, if not outright illegal, to handle and keep, and pose a high risk of injuring themselves or the actors and crew if used in a movie, so a tame and socialized animal is used instead.
112* ThingsAreMoreEffectiveInHollywood: Bulletproof vests are nowhere near as effective as portrayed in the movies but if it was realistic the hero would get shot and either bleed out or spend the rest of the movie in hospital.
113* ThirdPersonFlashback: Normally, people don't see themselves in their own visual recall unless some mirror was there showing themselves, but it's usually difficult to show events through the point of view of one character due to the lack of an EstablishingShot.
114* ThreeMonthOldNewborn: Film sets are hot, noisy, dirty, and altogether not suitable places to bring a newborn baby whose immune system is still developing.
115* UndeadTaxExemption: Supernatural beings don't need to worry about paperwork when it comes to trying to adjust to new society, even if they're technically considered [[TheIllegal illegal immigrants]], because seeing them having to go through customs is boring.
116* UniversalDriversLicense: A character can drive any vehicle they come across without any training. Adding training would make for unnecessary interruption of gameplay when you're just using it to cross between plot-important places.
117* UniversalPoison: There's only one type of poison and generally one type of antidote for it. This prevents the player from having to tote around thirty different antidote potions, hoping they'll have the right one for the next encounter.
118* VeryHighVelocityRounds: You've slowed down time and while enemy bullets will crawl like molasses, yours go at normal speed. This keeps time-altering mechanics from being AwesomeButImpractical, or even a UselessUsefulSpell.
119* VolumetricMouth: How exactly did that mouth grow ridiculously huge? Probably because it helps convey the character's emotions more clearly. Or maybe because it wants to eat you. Or it's just [[RuleOfFunny funny]].
120* WorstAid: Often overlooked when it's PlayedForDrama because sometimes [[ArtisticLicenseMedicine medicinal practices are bent a little]] for the sake of an engaging, tense scene.
121[[/folder]]
122
123[[folder:Specific to Games]]
124* AllInARow: Because they'd get stuck behind a table sometimes. It'd be annoying depending on whether or not you're teleported to a battlefield or fight enemies wherever you stand and your character's stuck.
125* AllSwordsAreTheSame: Because designing a wide variety of swords, as well as making unique battle animations for every single one of them, is hard.
126* AntiFrustrationFeatures: They'd never make sense storywise, they're just there to keep the player from getting frustrated.
127* AntiTrollingFeatures: It may not make sense in-universe, but it's there so a {{Troll}} or an InternetJerk doesn't get under the player's skin.
128* ArbitraryAugmentationLimit: A means of preventing your character from acquiring every trait enhancing or ability-granting upgrade in the game.
129* ArbitraryGunPower: Video game guns damage your life bar, not your organs. Accurate simulations of the physics and biology of bullet wounds are prohibitive in terms of development time, or simply don't fit in with CompetitiveBalance, so the effects of bullet wounds are abstracted.
130* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: Arbitrary requirement that stops you from having too many characters in a party or unit. TruthInTelevision with regard to close quarters and stealth missions.
131* ArbitraryWeaponRange: In real-world physics, there's no "maximum range" or "minimum range" for weapons.
132* BagOfSharing: Everyone in the team can access the same inventory even when they're apart because forcing the player to micromanage the inventory would be too obnoxious.
133* BlatantItemPlacement: What's a medkit doing here anyway? Well, the wounded player won't be complaining.
134* {{Cap}}: The maximum quantity of something that a game allows for, be it a set amount of inventory space or anything else.
135* CommandAndConquerEconomy: Otherwise the game would just be too easy. Oftentimes even if the option is available to let the AI control the economy, players continue to do it themselves because [[ArtificialStupidity they don't trust the computer to make the right choices.]]
136* CompetitiveBalance: Because having a character that can't win against any other character, unless you're CherryTapping, isn't really having much of a character at all. Balance encourages diversity in a game with many playable characters, and gives different types of playing styles to choose from without making all the characters clones of each other.
137* ConspicuouslySelectivePerception: Having a guard change their pattern due to [[LuckBasedMission some random occurrence]] wouldn't be that fun after a while.
138* ContinueYourMissionDammit: Because enforcing TakeYourTime in the middle of a crisis is more unrealistic than having characters shouting at you about it, even if there's no real-time limit.
139* {{Cooldown}}: Being able to use a reusable LimitBreak or LastDiscMagic every turn becomes a GameBreaker otherwise.
140* CriticalEncumbranceFailure: Adding in conditions for every individual possible item configuration in the game takes far too much time to make in development, and dealing with the additional question of added weight alongside "do I want to carry this item" can make for more frustration than it's worth.
141* CriticalExistenceFailure: With 1 HitPoint left or if you're one step away from death you're fine, but lose the last bit of health and you die instantly. This is to prevent players from having to buy a disproportionate amount of healing items just so they aren't slowed down or otherwise made to be less powerful due to health, because [[FakeDifficulty the game becomes a lot harder when you effectively have half the health bar you actually have.]]
142* CrosshairAware: A character in a video game can see when/where an attack is going to hit because it would be frustrating if they couldn't. Also related to gun-wielding enemies having {{Laser Sight}}s even when it doesn't make sense (such as snipers using them.)
143* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Having there be a penalty for dying can interrupt the narrative, and certain games are more fun in multiplayer or in alternate modes if you aren't forced to sit out the rest of the game.
144* DoorToBefore: A door that leads you straight back to the beginning of a dungeon so you don't have to walk out the long way.
145* EasyCommunication: Instant commands make for more interesting games, especially in RealTimeStrategy games. Why? Because it's frustrating to command something and have troops not do it simply in the name of realism.
146* EasyLogistics: You don't need to worry about feeding your troops or keeping up supplies; that all happens automatically. This is to prevent players from [[AntiPoopSocking sitting around waiting for supply lines.]]
147* AnEconomyIsYou: All stores in a videogame city are centered around selling things you, in particular, will need, because no one likes wasting money on unnecessary items.
148* EnoughToGoAround: In {{MMORPG}}s, a quest item is supposedly unique, but there's one for every player of the game in order to prevent LootDrama.
149* EternalEquinox: Day and night are always the exact same length, regardless of the season or the latitude. [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail 99% of players won't notice or care about it, and it often has marginal, if any, impact on the story.]]
150* EquipmentHidingFashion: Allows players to have their character's armor covered by clothes, even when they logically shouldn't, to allow for more customization of a character's appearance.
151* EventDrivenClock: In-universe time and calendar are based on the hero's actions and progress rather than a real-time clock. Time of day can be very important to a scene, and technical difficulties can arise if the alternative is used, especially in pre-rendered cutscenes.
152* EveryBulletIsATracer: You'll be able to see the path of bullets to assist in aiming or following the action. This helps deter camping and informs players where the fighting is.
153* EverythingFades: Keeping track of corpses and items takes extra memory, all that stuff piling up can eventually obstruct pathways, and sometimes it just looks unappealing and [[MoralGuardians can make a game controversial.]]
154* ExposedToTheElements: Because it would be annoying to have to change gear when going from the ShiftingSandLand to the SlippySlideyIceWorld, temperatures be damned. It could also be detrimental, such as if your ArmorOfInvincibility can stop arrows but isn't rated for below-freezing temperatures...
155* FirewoodResources: Resource icons/sprites are simplified at the cost of scale and accuracy.
156* FlashOfPain: [[RuleOfFun Because it's satisfying,]] [[RuleOfCool because it looks neat,]] [[RuleOfPerception and because it shows that you successfully inflicted damage.]]
157* FloatingPlatforms: Because it's much easier than building proper structural supports when all you'll be doing is jumping on them.
158* FriendlyFireproof: Combat would be less fun if the player had to constantly worry about not hitting their teammates and/or getting hit by their allies.
159* GameplayAllyImmortality: Plot-critical friendly [=NPCs=] cannot be permanently killed, to release players from the [[EscortMission burden of protecting them]].
160* GameplayGuidedAmnesia: Because the character of a game knows things the player doesn't, sometimes the character gets amnesia to excuse the explanation to the player. It can't be done often.
161* GatelessGhetto: You're dumped in a small part of a city walled off from the rest of it, so you can't explore what hasn't been programmed. This is to ease the workload for the map designers and programmers, [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail because nothing else in that city is story-important.]]
162* GlobalCurrency: The same money is used across the entire world (spanning multiple countries and/or times) to avoid cluttering up the menu with 30 different kinds of currency.
163* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: StealthBasedGames would become frustrating if guards were actually competent.
164* HandsFreeHandlamp: Fumbling with your light sources can be inconvenient and detrimental to gameplay, to the point of bogging down the pacing.
165* HeKnowsAboutTimedHits: How else are you going to learn which button does what?
166* HealThyself: When you pick up a medkit or use a potion, you get healed ''instantly''. Sitting around waiting for a week in-game to recover from even merely moderate wounds makes for not-so-fun gameplay.
167* {{Hitscan}}: Bullets in most 3D shooters are simulated by checking once what lies in the bullet's path and dealing damage as soon as it's fired. Real bullets aren't that fast, but players will certainly appreciate not having to LeadTheTarget or wasting ammo on a target that will be taken down by bullets already in flight.
168* HyperactiveMetabolism: Eating food will instantly heal you. (See HealThyself.)
169* HyperspaceArsenal: In games, you can carry an absolutely enormous amount of stuff, though where it's actually ''kept'' is a mystery. Oftentimes developers don't want to spend the time creating additional models for items and weapons, and including them may make for an additional discrepancy if the player or enemies have BottomlessMagazines.
170* IFoughtTheLawAndTheLawWon: The supposedly understaffed police or army that doesn't have enough hands to deal with the criminal or enemy army problem can somehow cough up a seemingly limitless number of {{mook}}s to put down that pesky protagonist.
171* ImprobablePowerDiscrepancy: Enemies in {{RPG}}s are given statistics based on how powerful you're expected to be at that point, not how strong that enemy would be based on common sense. But it would get boring if you had to wait 30 hours into the game to start fighting the enemies that looked cool, and besides, cool fights with dragons wouldn't be likely otherwise.
172* InVehicleInvulnerability: Driver doesn't die or get injured when a car crashes without explosion. Having your character die if they suffer too much whiplash either force level designers to use simple, boring tracks or makes the game [[NintendoHard unfair]] or just not as fun.
173* InexplicableTreasureChests: Where did they come from? Who put them there? Why does nobody else ever open them? Answering the first two questions would require some complex justifications, and as for the third one, going through an area and getting nothing due to all the chests being empty doesn't feel very rewarding for your dungeon-crawling effort.
174* InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals: Many {{Casual Game}}s have {{NPC}}s who fall into this, in order to reduce strain on the game engine and/or the developer's budget.
175* InexplicablyPreservedDungeonMeat: Without them, those epic dungeon crawls tend to peter out after a few days.
176* InformedEquipment: Game characters' equipment won't show up visually. This saves developers from spending time on hundreds of additions that are mostly cosmetic. This is primarily a [[UsefulNotes/BitmapsSpritesAndTextures 2D]] phenomenon, however; games with models have less of an excuse because those are much easier to animate than redrawing entire character sprite sheets.
177* Instant180DegreeTurn: Characters can turn around in an instant. Implementing non-instant turning requires extra programming, and if it's a SideView game, extra artwork.
178* InstantHomeDelivery: When you buy something, it shows up instantly or at least much faster than in RealLife. Waiting for a month for backorders is already frustrating enough in real life, so why would that be included in a game intended to be enjoyed?
179* InterchangeableAntimatterKeys: It would be extremely cumbersome to have every key unlock one and only one door, so every key unlocks every door. But this just adds a different problem that you'd only ever need to pick up one key throughout the entire game, so the keys also disappear when you use them.
180* JustAddWater: Items can generally be created by just sticking two or three things together. Having to possess a mortar and pestle can make ItemCrafting more inconvenient than it's worth, and that's not even getting into the expense of acquiring a laboratory or blacksmith...
181* LawOfCartographicalElegance: Land masses will never cross the edge of a world map since if they did the developers would get ceaseless questions asking "what's over there?"
182* LazyBackup: Yes, the other fifteen members of the party ''could'' carry on the fight should the frontline trio fall, but that would make the battle too easy.
183* LeakedExperience: When fighting in {{RPG}}s, characters not in the active party will get some percentage of the experience that the active party gets to prevent CantCatchUp situations.
184* LimitedSoundEffects: Because not all programmers go the extra mile of having a sound-effect ensemble.
185* MercyInvincibility: Because being hit again and again [[CycleOfHurting without being able to retaliate]] is a bit unfair. This also sometimes alleviates the unfairness of LedgeBats, [[NintendoHard but only sometimes.]]
186* MoneySpider: Enemies you wouldn't expect to hold any money drop them anyway. A more believable scenario would be getting rewarded ''for'' killing the monsters, but it'd simply take too long to go back to the person and get rewarded every time you did it.
187* NeverRecycleABuilding: Don't worry about zoning laws, the abandoned building is just waiting for you to use it. Red tape is not generally included in games because red tape is not fun.
188* NoArcInArchery: For balance purposes, mostly.
189* NoRecycling: In strategy games, you can't scavenge debris for usable materials, because this would essentially make for [[MoneyForNothing free resources]], defeating the point of gathering those materials.
190* NoStatAtrophy: Once you raise a stat, it'll never go down again, because if even your stats aren't reliable, [[EverythingTryingToKillYou you're in for a rough time]].
191* NoSuchThingAsDehydration: Because having characters need to drink may become boring.
192* NominalImportance: Only people that are relevant to the plot or a {{sidequest}} will be blessed with names. Everyone else will be {{nameless|Narrative}} or be referred to with [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep generic or descriptive titles]] because having names for everyone can make for a confusing conversation, especially if OneSteveLimit is averted.
193* NowWhereWasIGoingAgain: The ways to combat this are acceptable because not knowing what to do next in a video game is frustrating, time-wasting, and not fun.
194* NPCAmnesia: Because picking a wrong choice in a DialogueTree could otherwise result in the game becoming {{Unwinnable}}, and programming alternate ways to proceed can be tedious.
195* OneBulletClips: In a game, if you fire one bullet and reload, you'll be shown reloading a full magazine, but will still only have reloaded one bullet and not lost any others doing so. Wasting half a magazine can get annoying, and sometimes it's preferable to reload safely with half your magazine than to reload in a critical situation with your magazine empty.
196* OnesieArmor: Armor is treated as a single unit (or fewer parts than in real life) to make calculating the armor value easier, particularly in TabletopGames
197* OneSizeFitsAll: Clothing and armor can be worn by anyone, regardless of its source or the wearer's size or gender. This saves time for developers and also saves money and time for the player who won't ever buy something that winds up being useless gear.
198* PamphletShelf: Whenever you see a bookshelf, there'll never be more than one book (and often one ''line'') that you can read so that you don't spend an hour looking for something relevant.
199* PartyInMyPocket: Sometimes from a developmental point of view, showing all 3-8+ party members on-screen at all times means issues such as them taking up a lot of space in the area and having their pathfinding programmed without OffscreenTeleportation.
200* PlotPoweredStamina: You don't have to break off the action to rest, eat, or sleep in-world, though your characters may abruptly decide to do so in a cutscene. These are the logistics of traveling that most video game players don't want to spend time doing when they could be off killing monsters.
201* PowerEqualsRarity: The more powerful an item, monster, or ability/spell is, the harder it is to find. This is to keep items intended for the FinalBoss from becoming a DiscOneNuke.
202* PuzzleReset: In a game, if you exit and re-enter the room, any puzzle will reset itself. This is a basic AntiFrustrationFeature to keep puzzles from potentially becoming UnintentionallyUnwinnable.
203* RateLimitedPerpetualResource: A resource or source of resources in a game is impossible to run out of, preventing an {{unwinnable}} game state, even if only a certain amount can be used or taken at a time.
204* ReducedDowntimeFeatures: Features in a game that reduce tedium and mundanity between action, such as waiting for health to recover or searching for key items.
205* RewardFromNowhere: A seemingly arbitrary prize for an in-universe action with no explanation as to who gives out the prize or why. These exist to encourage the player to explore; if averted it can lead to DudeWheresMyReward
206* RidiculouslyFastConstruction: All buildings can be produced and military units trained in a ridiculously short amount of time. Games that require you to wait hours for anything to happen can become tedious, or result in [[AntiPoopSocking very long playing sessions.]]
207* RidiculouslyFastPopulationGrowth: For much the same reason as fast construction, populations seem to expand at a rate far in excess of what humans can sustain.
208* RiskStyleMap: A war or other contest (like a turf war) on a larger map involves struggles for smaller regions which are wholly in the possession of one side or the other, and are treated as "spaces" for movement which can't be divided up in any way. This makes games about conquering easier, as if it were accurate to real life, dealing with [[LaResistance continuous rebel insurrections]] is something most people only want to do once when taking over a nation.
209* SelectiveGravity: Gravity is only applied to some things. This is often a feature to make projectiles more predictable (or unpredictable), especially in platformers. The alternative requires players to understand both the direction and arc of incoming dangers, which can easily make a game NintendoHard.
210* ShopFodder: Merchants are more than happy to purchase your useless junk in endless quantities, even if there's no chance of reselling it. Sometimes can be justified if it's a valuable commodity that has no use in combat or if it's said to be a disposal service, and being forced to keep random things that ''might'' be valuable in your inventory can make for a good deal of frustration when no one will buy it and you chose not to pick up other items that ''might'' have been valuable..
211* TheSimpleLifeIsSimple: The simple life is indeed simplified for games where farming is (one of) the objective(s); the complexities of real-life farming would take the fun out of it otherwise.
212* SimpleRescueMechanic: Hostages disappear and are considered "Saved" the moment you find them. Would you rather deal with [[EscortMission escorting]] each and every individual person out of the area?
213* SkillPointReset: A way to completely [[LaserGuidedAmnesia forget everything you knew about your current job]] and [[InstantExpert learn everything from scratch]] again, to give players an opportunity to optimize their setup and prevent their characters from becoming [[CripplingOverspecialization too situational]].
214* SoundCodedForYourConvenience: In video games, many things make sounds more distinct from each other than in real life so the player can more easily tell what's happening just by hearing them.
215* SpaceCompression: Where an environment is blatantly not to scale so you don't spend an entire real world day just walking to the next city.
216* StatisticallySpeaking: In VideoGames, no matter how high your strength, speed, etc. goes, you still won't be able to, for example, [[InsurmountableWaistHeightFence lift that tree in your way]]. This may be {{Railroading}}, but it's meant to keep the story on track anyway.
217* SuperNotDrowningSkills: Video game characters can breathe underwater for infinite amounts of time. Level design is limited if characters are required to go up for air, and oftentimes when there is an air mechanic [[SuperDrowningSkills characters that were just fine a moment before immediately asphyxiate.]]
218* SuperWoolGrowth: In games with wool as a crafting resource, sheared sheep grow their wool back really fast because waiting months or years for their wool to regrow would be tedious, boring and impractical.
219* SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity: When the game gives you a whole bunch of healing items and ammo, you're about to fight a nasty boss battle. This performs two practical functions: First, you have an opportunity to breathe and restock in a safe environment. Second, savvy players will know to be prepared for a boss battle.
220* TakeYourTime: The villain won't put his dastardly plan into motion until you get there, no matter how long you partake in various sidequests. Wouldn't be fair to just realistically railroad you.
221* TalkingIsAFreeAction: At least in a tabletop RPG like ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', it is. Because not being able to talk strategy or tell people what you're doing would be a real pain to work around, you can just talk during combat without interrupting anything.
222* TechTree: Tech Trees mostly only exist in games where the absence of them would make every civilization or group a clone of each other or would result in very comprehensive (and expensive, and time-consuming) gameplay. (See CompetitiveBalance.)
223* ThreeRoundDeathmatch: Best of three wins in a FightingGame. You start again with full health. This is often for the sake of preventing luck from being a factor in fighting games and allowing human players to adjust for their adversary's playing style (especially if it's a new character they haven't fought against before).
224* ThrivingGhostTown: Cities and towns are much smaller than they should be for sustainability. This saves time and money on set design/development. See also SpaceCompression.
225* TookAShortcut: A common HandWave to explain other {{NPC}}s suddenly showing up past the dungeon you just risked life and limb getting through. But of course, if the villain went through the dungeon themselves, the path would already be cleared, making the dungeon too easy (see AlreadyUndoneForYou).
226* TraumaInn: Sleeping at an inn is guaranteed to instantly cure all your wounds because having characters heal at normal rates would probably necessitate the subtitle ''Waiting in a Hospital''.
227* UnitsNotToScale: In RealTimeStrategy games, infantrymen are ridiculously large when compared to vehicles and buildings. If they were to scale it would either be difficult to see every unit clearly and click on them accurately, or you would have trouble telling the layout and location of your buildings because you can't fit many on your screen at a time..
228* UniversalAmmunition: You can just pick up ammunition and put it in your gun, without worrying about different calibres and magazine types; because dealing with all of that would be tedious for the player and the developer.
229* VideogameDashing: Lunging forward or back-stepping has the same effect as firing an invisible jet pack. This makes dodging bullets possible, so why wouldn't you be okay with keeping unrealistic instant movement?
230* VideogameGeography: The world map is a toroid. Distances aren't quite right. But hey, [[BellisariosMaxim it's a video game!]]
231* VideoGameSliding: Sliding is much more useful when you can do it from a standstill, with enough force to break walls and/or kill enemies.
232* VideoGameStealing: A thief can pick the pockets of a giant dire wolf in the middle of an all-out brawl and come away with an eight-foot claymore. But without that ability, being a thief or rogue class would be [[CripplingOverspecialization very situational]] [[AwesomeButImpractical to the point of needing]] [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman specific instances where their abilities come in handy.]]
233* VideoGameTime: Fake use of a time scale means that empires rise and fall in the time it takes to take the trash out. But this is because [[MST3KMantra it's a video game]], and it'll have some liberties taken with time if it means the whole story is told in a more entertaining way.
234* WalletOfHolding: Where you can collect millions of gold coins and not have your pants fall down. Having a money limit is never fun, though, because it creates an extra unnecessary hassle for a player.
235* WarpWhistle: In real life, you can't just open a map, select a location, and instantly appear there (or pay to suddenly appear there at a specific spot), but if it saves you from trekking across a huge world, no problem.
236* WeBuyAnything: Wanna sell that suit of armor at a grocery store? They'll take it! While it may seem jarring, it's preferable to searching through the city (or worse, through multiple cities) to find the one vendor that deals in magical weapons.
237* WelcomeToCorneria: Minor [=NPCs=] always say the same dialogue because programming in endless dialogue is a time-consuming activity when few players will actually talk to them again anyway.
238* YouAllLookFamiliar: Not all games and animated shows have the time, budget, or inclination to go for a CastOfSnowflakes.
239* YouCallThatAWound: Without this, you're dealing with an EscortMission, which is the very thing this trope is supposed to avert. This is usually meant as an AntiFrustrationFeature, which excuses the fact that the guest character is an ImplacableMan.
240* YouGetKnockedDownYouGetBackUpAgain: In VideoGames, when you're knocked down, you can't be damaged until you get back up, because it's ''quite'' annoying when it's averted.
241[[/folder]]
242[[/index]]
243
244!! Examples:
245
246[[AC:Animation]]
247* ''Animation/PomyslowyDobromir'': The various devices build by Dobromir work on ''principle'', but are still greatly simplified from their real-life counterparts.
248
249[[AC:Anime & Manga]]
250* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'': In RealLife, [[spoiler: Fritz Lang [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Lang looked nothing]] like [[http://fma.wikia.com/wiki/King_Bradley King Bradley]] and is almost 30 years younger at the time]], but it hardly takes away from the story.
251* ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'':
252** In-universe, Sensha-do teams seem to use modern radios and throat mics, rather than the far more varied systems of the time. For instance, the volleyball team's Type-89 ''I-Go'' shouldn't have a radio at all! Supplemental material point out that this is part of the partial modernization of the tanks to make matches safer and more even.
253** Despite the use of live rounds, and thanks to some briefly-described safety features, Sensha-do is apparently very safe. The massive amounts of damage we see never do more than smudge the girls. If this weasel did not exist, the show would be much darker, and probably have a body count.
254* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': What seems to be standard breaks from reality found in HumongousMecha anime, turns out to be very well backed-up in-universe. As a result, it's less of breaking away from reality as it is that the anime's reality is so off-rails, it can {{justif|iedTrope}}y its wacky state of affairs. The pilots are so young because they can't be tainted by the Second Impact, and as that event happened fourteen years ago... TheHero can get so good at his job, not because of any merit of his but because his mecha is a SoulJar for his mother and a [[EnemyExchangeProgram hijacked clone of the enemy species]] -- it's his mecha doing all of the work. And so on.
255* ''Anime/YuGiOhSevens'': Even though Yuga only just invented "Rush Duel", everyone has cards built around that format, even in flashbacks. Since Yuga envisioned the format because he felt the game proper was stale, it's implied he designed it to work well with already existing cards.
256%%* ''Manga/ABridesStory'': A minor one, [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the afterword of volume two: getting a load of bricks dumped over your head will kill you, even if the bricks are only made from mud and sun-dried (rather than fired in a kiln). %%And what makes it an acceptable break from reality?
257
258[[AC:Art]]
259* ''Art/TheLastSupper'': It would make a lot more sense to have the Apostles sitting on opposite sides of the table, but it's for the best Leonardo da Vinci didn't dedicate his talents to a painting of six peoples' backs covering up what is either Jesus or an Italian hobo.
260
261[[AC:Blogs]]
262* ''Blog/ACollectionOfUnmitigatedPedantry'': {{Conversed}}.
263** Dr. Devereaux often points out in his essays on ''Lord of the Rings'' when the filmmakers had to change things to make scenes possible to film. For instance, the skirmish between the Rohirrim and the warg riders in ''The Two Towers'' features a lot of ahistorical elements, such as [[OnrushingArmy minimal tactics besides charging in]] and the Rohirrim using few spears and not wielding their shields. He points out that the rather basic tactics on display are likely because the scene is supposed to be a short appetizer before Helm's Deep and therefore going simple is favorable, and filming a horseman with a spear and shield in an action scene is rather difficult (shields are cumbersome, and prop spears are much more dangerous than prop swords).
264** It has a similar verdict in regards to the extreme control the player usually has on their troops in a strategy game compared to what the generals would have in the pre-modern period, as having to blindly rely on a pre-conceived plan without much ability to influence the things that happen on the battle wouldn't be very fun.
265--->"Having to make a plan effectively blind and then mostly just hope it goes well would be very frustrating for many players. It was frustrating for many generals too, of course!"
266* ''Blog/JohnKStuff'': {{Conversed}}. In "Wayne Boring's Superman", the eponymous blogger points out that Superman is so beloved because of the preposterousness of his premise, specifically, that he cannot be killed in-universe.
267* ''Blog/TheTyrannosaurChronicles'':
268** Traumador can write and post blog entries during situations in which it would logically be inconvenient for him to do so (such as while being trapped inside a backpack and menaced by dromaeosaurids). He has even been known to respond to comments while supposedly being caught in these mishaps. Additionally, the posts sometimes end on cliffhangers, despite the fact that it would make little sense for Traumador to either have been blogging in real time or to leave the readers hanging had he made the posts after the events described.
269** There are occasionally posts by characters other than Traumador that provide insight into plot points to which he is not privy, often with no in-universe explanation as to why they are posted on his blog. There is also no reason given as to why Traumador presumably cannot or does not see these posts.
270
271[[AC:Comic Books]]
272* ''ComicBook/{{Papyrus}}'': The comic's historical setting demands that children under the age of six are to be naked. However, this is not adopted to prevent pedo-pandering.
273%%* ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'': The setting is a video-game version of Toronto, so there are all sorts of wacky things such as epic narrator voices, video-game interfaces, quests, and factions such as ninjas. People are also capable of doing things that are impossible in reality -- from pulling all sorts of acrobatics to killing without consequence so long it's done within the constraints of a duel/challenge. So, its premise pretty much runs on this trope. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
274
275%%[[AC:Fan Works]]
276%%* ''Blog/LivingInOblivion'': {{Discussed}} and {{defied}}. The blog is geared toward demonstrating how hard a NonPlayableCharacter actually has it in a VideoGame setting. The result is that it gets swiftly illustrated why video games genuinely need this trope -- otherwise, they would be beyond NintendoHard, extremely boring at times, and overall frustrating. While a good gaming experience can be obtained out of such limitations, there are still plenty of things that you just can't avoid. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
277
278[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
279* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'':
280** Gus and Hector are both native Spanish speakers, and logically should be holding most of their conversations in Spanish, especially when talking with the people they're in business with for The Cartel (Nacho, Eladio, Bolsa, Lalo, etc). However, Giancarlo Esposito and Mark Margolis can't speak Spanish and get their Spanish lines phonetically, making their delivery extremely stilted. So, whenever there's a scene where Gus or Hector should logically be speaking Spanish, the writers can either have them speak Spanish, where it will be obvious to any fluent speaker that they can't really speak what is supposed to be their native language, or have them speaking English inexplicably. The show does both, depending on the situation, but both actors are otherwise excellent at playing their roles, so most will let it slide (by contrast, Tony Dalton and Michael Mando both speak fluent Spanish, so Lalo and Nacho speak the language far more often; Lalo in particular exclusively speaks Spanish when talking to Hector).
281** Every single character who also appeared in ''Breaking Bad'' (Jimmy, Mike, Tuco, Huell, Gus, Hector, Eladio, Bolsa, etc) is supposed to be anywhere from 5-8 years younger than they were when they appeared in ''Breaking Bad''. In real life, the actors are all several years older. The show puts very little effort into hiding this discrepancy; at best some of the characters look about the same age and are old enough for it to be handwaved as them no longer visibly aging. Hector is the only one who really pulls it off, just because he spent all of ''Breaking Bad'' as a mute invalid. A couple of flashbacks even show Jimmy right around the time he started working in the mailroom in the early 90s, meaning he's supposed to be a good 20 years younger than he is in Omaha, and all the show does to try to sell this is give him a cheap wig. It's clear the showrunners aren't even trying to fool anyone, which is reasonable given that de-aging CGI would be expensive and would also invoke a distracting uncanny valley effect, and that makeup would likely not be effective either. The only other solution would be to recast the actors, which would be pretty much guaranteed to irritate the fanbase, so just looking the other way is the best solution.
282** [[spoiler:ADX Montrose is based on one of the most human-rights-violating prisons in reality, ADX Florence. Prisoners there are kept in solitary confinement for twenty three hours, and patients with mental illness (which Jimmy would be classed as, with his PTSD and dissociation tendencies) have a high rate of suicide. But Jimmy needs to have some sort of peace, with regular visits from Kim and the hope of getting out early, so prisoners can move around, have recreational activities and Kim is able to sneak in as his lawyer.]]
283* In ''Series/TheBoys2019'' it's both a plot point and part of the world-building that the Supes play themselves in the [[ShowWithinAShow films based on them.]] But none of the Supes mention taking acting lessons, nor do the film crews comment on their [[StylisticSuck sub-par performances]] and generally treat them like normal actors, even though these films are supposed to be the in-universe equivalent of real-life superhero blockbusters, and proper movie acting can take years to learn for some people. Starring in such a movie is also stressful and time consuming, and would interfere with Supes' other responsibilities. Realistically, Vought would have most if not all the roles played by professional actors, just like how athletes, veterans and other celebrities rarely play themselves in their biopics, but the way the show presents it allows for some interesting plots and for the satire of superhero media, celebrities and Hollywood to remain focused on [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything the characters the audience knows.]]
284* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': The she-mantis has a distinctive accent because her actress is from South Africa. The accent only adds to the fact that she's a giant insect and, thus, doesn't possess a mandible or vocal cords.
285* ''Series/CobraKai'': The All Valley Tournament doesn't have any weight or gender divisions. This is done to allow the cast to fight in the same tournament and get to fight whatever opponent it's needed for CharacterDevelopment or plot advancement.
286* ''Series/MrRobot'': While the show goes out of its way to {{avert|edTrope}} HollywoodHacking at all costs, some of the hacks are sped up for the sake of keeping the show theatrical and entertaining.
287* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' in additon to being the TropeNamer for the MST3KMantra, has a case of "Acceptable Breaks From Cinema History." The premise of each iteration of the show is [[MadScientist Mad Scientists]] [[ReelTorture forcing captives to watch bad movies to see which ones do the most psychological damage,]] and use said movies as weapons. The theme song even describes the movies as "the worst [they] can find." But the show's real-life creators generally avoided featuring truly terrible movies on the show, since it's been proven that the host's riffing can only do so much to make a bad movie tolerable to sit through, not to mention the problems with showing films with serious issues of ValuesDissonance or terrifying subject matters, and the true stinkers they did feature usually came the closest to driving the captives insane. So it's either this trope, or all Mads are rather bad at finding bad movies (which is quite plausible, given their general track record).
288[[AC:Video Games]]
289* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'':
290** Quite a few. [[BottomlessMagazines Ranged weapons don't run out of ammunition any more]], [[AutomatonHorses your mounts can fly or run indefinitely]], [[HyperactiveMetabolism eating or drinking heals all wounds]], you can carry hundreds of items with you [[{{Hammerspace}} without so much as a bulging backpack showing]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and you can swap pants without ever getting off your horse, as long as you're not in combat]].
291** InUniverse, Warlocks, Demon Hunters, and Death Knights are not very well trusted. Warlocks and Demon Hunters must work ''very hard'' to ensure their demonic powers do not get the better of them, and death Knights were ''hated'' for well, being (former) agents of the Scourge who caused a lot of ruin. (This was even shown with how, with the exception of the Undead, Warlock class trainers tended to be in back alleys or behind buildings while everyone else was front and center and how Death Knights had to go to Acherus to train.) Yet they all start with the same neutral faction and never have to worry about hate crimes or the rogue person who ''still'' does not trust them.
292** {{Averted}} with the Forsaken, however. Originally neither the quests, the [=NPCs=], or even the in-game voice-over were vague about the Forsaken joining the Horde only out of convenience and not having any real loyalty towards them. Over time the Forsaken appeared to begin developing some real camaraderie with the Horde until Cataclysm came and their queen was shown to be doing all sorts of shady things behind the backs of the other Horde leaders. Because of this, the Forsaken start out as Neutral with other Horde factions (except the Blood Elves, probably due to the Forsaken's leader being a former High Elf) rather than Friendly as all other races, on both factions, do.
293* The point of ''VideoGame/WhereInTimeIsCarmenSandiego1997'' is for people to learn. Its extensive manual mentions that a ''lot'' of creative liberties were taken in order to make the game playable. These include:
294** The fact you can understand everyone. Aside from a few English Speaking areas? You would ''not'' have been able to understand anyone.
295** You're also able to walk up to historical figures (including royalty) and casually have a chat with them. Which you wouldn't have been able to do.
296** Some areas have some pretty notable travel times between screens (in real life). This is cut down in-game so that it could be completed within a 10-20 minute play session.
297** In 1002, Erikson's expedition to the Americas is shown as consisting of only four people. It would take a ''lot'' of time to round up the likely dozens if not ''hundreds'' people that were ''actually'' on the expedition.
298
299[[AC: Websites]]
300* ''Website/{{Cracked}}'': {{Parodied}} in "[[http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_1088_if-video-games-worked-by-real-world-logic If Video Games Worked By Real Logic"]]. In one panel, a hairdresser informs his client that he can't "cut his hair longer". In another, a car is turned upside down as a consequence of pulling a typical car video game stunt.
301
302[[AC: Western Animation]]
303* Discussed at the end of each episode of ''Literature/TheMagicSchoolBus'' and its sequel series ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBusRidesAgain''. There, one of the producers (or sometimes one of the characters) would take a call from a kid who would call out the various mistakes the episode made and explain why the episode changed things. For example, the planets in a space episode almost never line up, but it's a nice and convenient way to keep track of them. The episode about digestion doesn't show the anus because standards and practices wouldn't let them.
304* ''WesternAnimation/AThousandAndOneAmericas'': All the characters Chris meets from the pre-Columbian era of North, Central and South America speak to him in Spanish, and in turn Chris can talk to them in that language just fine. This artistic trait is necessary, because Chris would otherwise be unable to communicate with them and the show wouldn't make sense (in RealLife, none of the Indo-European languages like Spanish and English were spoken prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492). It also has the HandWave that Chris is ''dreaming'' of said characters.

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