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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 7 | ->''"''Xavier Pendragon'': An alchemist who uses Hapkido Cane Fighting. He was burned at the stake due to the fact that his powers, based on science, were actually dark magic. To be fair, they had a point, since this guy can shoot a magic dragon out of his staff which can bite people, along with turning them to gold, and, in one of the weirdest moves in fighting game history, swap characters with his opponent."'' |
| 8 | -->-- ''Website/HardcoreGaming101'' [[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/eternal-champions/ speaking about]] ''VideoGame/EternalChampions'' |
| 9 | |
| 10 | This is where a story element that was originally explained by 'science' is {{retcon}}ned into being [[FunctionalMagic due to magic]] or supernatural forces. This tends to be poorly received ([[Administrivia/TropesAreTools though not always]]) because it throws the established "rules of TheVerse" out of the window, but it is often the response to the problem of UnscientificScience. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | This is often seen in "updated" superhero origins. Once upon a time [[RadiationInducedSuperpowers being on the range during a Gamma-bomb test]], or being [[MagicGenetics bitten by]] and/or [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke spliced with]] a [[ComicBook/SpiderMan radioactive spider]], sounded semi-plausible. Nobody thought it could work (hopefully...) but it sounded vaguely ''like'' something that could happen. However, ScienceMarchesOn and now there are some things that ''no'' scientific origin can plausibly excuse. Magic, on the other hand, can (by definition) do anything the author wants it to. Sure, it loses a lot of realism but sometimes that's what you're after -- maintaining WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief through a simple handwave that doesn't try to be scientific is often less taxing than trying to swallow nonsense about something that really exists. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | A supertrope for MagicPoweredPseudoscience, when it applies to revealing that seemingly-scientific Phlebotinum was [[MagicFeather powered by the creator]] rather than TechnoBabble. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | This is the {{inver|tedTrope}}sion of DoingInTheWizard. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in-universe if TheMagicComesBack. If magic is the whole basis for a civilization's technology, see {{Magitek}}. Contrast HowUnscientific (a supernatural episode in an otherwise non-supernatural universe) and MagicVersusScience (when magic and science/technology are enemies). May lead to MundaneFantastic (where magic is so common it's not even considered unusual), MagicalRealism (magic is present in an otherwise non-magical setting), BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy (the retconning of a historical figure as a supernatural being), and MaybeMagicMaybeMundane (when the new magic falls short of full confirmation and alternative explanations have not been discounted). Can be the result of a show becoming DenserAndWackier. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | If it happens to in-universe ''retellings'' of past events and people, but the events and people themselves remain non-supernatural, it is LegendFadesToMyth and ShroudedInMyth, respectively. |
| 21 | ---- |
| 22 | !!Examples: |
| 23 | |
| 24 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 25 | |
| 26 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 27 | * ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'': All those machines Skuld makes are ultimately revealed to be the result of one of her latent goddess powers, not mechnical genius. |
| 28 | * ''Franchise/{{Devilman}}'' starts off with the demons being explained as simply powerful shapeshifting creatures from Earth's distant past whose ability to "possess" people came from absorbing them on the cellular level not unlike ''Film/TheThing1982''. Then {{God}} himself shows up. |
| 29 | * ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' has gone into this full-force with ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun'', where it is revealed that Stands, at least in ''that'' continuity, are caused either by coming into possession of the remains of a Saint's body [[spoiler:it's most likely Jesus's]] ''or'' travelling through a cursed, ever-changing-location, region in the United States. This is strange seeing that Stands received the opposite treatment in the previous continuity, although it should be noted that many of the Stand Users in both ''Stardust Crusaders'' and ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'' gained their Stand by [[SuperEmpowering being struck with a magic arrow]]. |
| 30 | * ''Manga/MonsterMusume'': At first, all the monstergirls' biologies were carefully explained using real-world science. Then [[HeadlessHorseman Lala]] was introduced and eventually revealed to be an actual {{psychopomp}}, at which point other explicitly supernatural characters and elements began showing up in the series. |
| 31 | * In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', both Orochimaru (as well his disciple Kabuto) and Madara Uchiha believe that the Rinnegan is obtained by combining both Senju and Uchiha DNA; which is backed up by Madara himself gaining it after integrating Hashirama Senju's DNA into himself. However, it's revealed later on that the Rinnegan is actually obtained by having the chakra of the Sage of the Six Paths, either by receiving it directly from the man himself, or recreating it by combining the chakra of his two sons, who Hashirama and Madara are reincarnations of. |
| 32 | * ''Manga/OutlawStar'': Gene's caster gun looks like futuristic super science but it's revealed to be a really old model that was formerly used by mages. It can counter Tao magic because the two are based on a similar principle. That's why it's called a ''Cast''-er. |
| 33 | * ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'': Lil' Slugger is not a human delinquent. He's a [[spoiler:supernatural phantom unwittingly created by Tsukiko to escape responsibility for the death of her dog]]. |
| 34 | * ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': [[spoiler:Kyubey is a SufficientlyAdvancedAlien, not a magical creature, and he wants to prevent the universe's heat death by breaking the second law of thermodynamics. However, he does this by performing genuine miracles and drawing out real magical potential in human girls so he can collect energy generated by emotions; none of these are governed by thermodynamics or any kind of science and that's why they suit Kyubey's purpose]]. |
| 35 | * In ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', after extended use of duelling using shock-collars, Kaiser develops heart problems. This was initially explained as overuse of the shock collars, but the reason was done away with in favor of the [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique dark power of his deck]], which [[DeceptiveDisciple he stole from his mentor]]. |
| 36 | [[/folder]] |
| 37 | |
| 38 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 39 | * ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'': Sasquatch originally had the same origin as the [[Characters/MarvelComicsBruceBanner Hulk]] (with a bit of babble about the aurora borealis to explain why he wasn't green). Then it turned out he actually gained his power from one of the Arctic demons Snowbird was born to fight, and that he wasn't shapeshifting as much as switching bodies. He later gained the ability to change under his own power, but this too was magical and explicitly so. ComicBook/ImmortalHulk later stated that both origins were true, and Sasquatch is still gamma-irradiated but said gamma radiation was what allowed him to be possessed by the demon in the first place. There's apparently an aspect to gamma radiation in the Marvel Universe which is tied to magic; See the Hulk's section below. |
| 40 | * ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'': Animal Man once gained his power from being experimented on by aliens. This was later revealed to be a plot made by the Totems of 'the Red', counterpart of 'the Green' from ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' below. |
| 41 | * ''ComicBook/BlueBeetle'': The Blue Beetle was originally a case of DoingInTheWizard; in the Dan Garrett stories, {{t|ransformationTrinket}}he [[EmpathicWeapon Scarab]] was magic, and [[LegacyCharacter his successor]] Jaime Reyes ''assumes'' that it's magic for a while, only to learn that it's actually alien technology tampered with by magic (or something). As of ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', however, [[FlipFlopOfGod they've flip-flopped again]], and now it's an ''alien'' magical artifact. After all, there's magic in space, too. |
| 42 | ** Dan Garrett himself was a case of this, since Dan [[InconsistentSpelling Garret]]'s stories had him gain power from a special vitamin, and anything else was from gadgets he would invent. The scarab he was later associated with came around when he was retooled as Dan Garrett, and his powers ([[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands many and varied as they were]]) were ascribed to it. It seems Blue Beetle flips from being a ScienceHero to a magic-based one every generation. |
| 43 | * ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': |
| 44 | ** Each Flash originally gained their powers due to a FreakLabAccident, but later the origin was retconned into the accidents connecting them to a mystical entity called the Speed Force. |
| 45 | ** At one point, Flash's powers were stated to be the result of interference by Mopee, a magical extradimensional imp responsible for several origin stories, including some Marvel ones. This has been ignored since. |
| 46 | * ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'' introduces the One Below All and reveals all gamma rays are emanations of him, explaining why gamma mutations are based on the person's psyche. [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] in that Puck notes gamma is both magic ''and'' science -- it can be measured and understood scientifically, but when it makes "Metaphor people" it is behaving magically. It's all a matter of perspective. |
| 47 | * ''ComicBook/Marvel1602'': The AU miniseries, which takes place in an Elizabethan version of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, does this for practically all of the Marvel superheroes' origins. The ComicBook/FantasticFour, for example, get their powers after wandering into a magical sea storm that turns them into [[ElementalEmbodiment physical avatars of the four elements]]; this universe's [[Characters/MarvelComicsBruceBanner Bruce Banner]] becomes the Hulk after being hit by a blast of mystical energy from a tear in the fabric of space; and this universe's [[Characters/MarvelComicsPeterParker Peter Parker]] gets his spider-based abilities after being bitten by a spider that's hit with the same blast of energy. Played with in the finale, which reveals this anomaly only exists in the first place due to a malfunctioning time machine, but the parallels are also due to the presence a time displaced [[spoiler:[[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Steve Rogers]]]] shifting the universe to emulate his present by recreating the origins of his contemporaries. |
| 48 | * [[Characters/MarvelComicsSavageLand The Savage Land]] is a portion of Antarctica that still has a tropical climate and dinosaurs. In the mainstream universe this is because of aliens that used machines to keep things that way. In the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe, those dinosaurs are there because of the Scarlet Witch's reality-warping powers. |
| 49 | * Characters/ScarletWitch was originally created with the same background as most of the ComicBook/XMen, as she was a mutant. In her case, she could manipulate probability. As time went on, writers had her pick up magical training to make her code name more literal, and in a 1998 Avengers story, she discovered that her powers were never purely science-based, but an ability to manipulate "chaos magic." Though her powers and backstory have been {{retcon}}ned several more times, the comics have stuck to the idea that her powers are some form of magic, and the "chaos magic" explanation was eventually adopted by the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse as well. |
| 50 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': |
| 51 | ** [[Characters/MarvelComicsPeterParker Peter Parker]]'s superpower origin used to be a radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker and mutated him. Then in ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManJMichaelStraczynski'', Creator/JMichaelStraczynski went back and said, "The radiation gave a mystical spider-totem spirit a chance to infuse Peter Parker with its power." In this case, it was because fans and writers had gradually become more aware that [[HowUnscientific radiation doesn't work that way]], although that said the Scientist is NotQuiteDead -- Spidey didn't entirely buy the magic angle, and has shown enough scientific understanding of his power to poison a magical enemy who assumed he was just like any other totemic hero. ComicBook/{{S|carletSpider}}torylines [[ComicBook/SpiderVerse involving the mysticism angle]] still come up from time to time. |
| 52 | ** Around the end of ''[[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManJMichaelStraczynski The Other]]'' arc, Peter discusses this with a South American shaman who says that the answers aren't mutually exclusive. He says that a scientist would say that the sun rises in the morning because the Earth spins, while a mystic would say the sun rises because it is meant to, and they're ''both'' right, it's just different perspectives. In this sense, the Wizard and Scientist are different sides of the same coin. |
| 53 | ** Lord Chaos and Master Order claimed to have orchestrated all the events of Peter Parker's life so that he'd be able to fight Thanos. |
| 54 | ** The ''Fever'' mini-series said the radioactive spider belonged to the race of extradimensional Arachnix that was sent to Earth by a wizard. |
| 55 | ** ''ComicBook/AmbushBug'' has a one-panel gag where [[ComicBook/TheFlash Mopee]] claims responsibility for releasing the spider. Even DC writers can't leave that poor spider alone! |
| 56 | ** ''ComicBook/SpiderManIndia2004'' went with magic from the beginning. Pavitr gets his powers from a yogi, and his versions of the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Venom are demons that possess humans. |
| 57 | * ''ComicBook/SwampThing'': Swamp Thing started off as a man who had turned into a plant-monster after getting splashed with chemicals, but under Creator/AlanMoore's stint as writer he was {{retcon}}ned to be a mass of walking plant matter that ''thought'' it was a man. Eventually, he discovered his connection to the mental dimension 'the Green', and found that he was only the most recent in a long line of plant elementals. That second part was inspired by a series of experiments involving the memories of planarian flatworms [[ScienceMarchesOn which has since been discredited]]. |
| 58 | * ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlBatgirlPlot'': As impersonating Characters/{{Supergirl|TheCharacter}} and Characters/{{Batgirl}} -and later, Black Flame and Catwoman-, Mr. Mxyzptlk and Batmite must pretend their reality-warping powers have some scientific basis, so that "Black Flame" claims she drank a super serum to gain powers and used a mind-control ring to confuse Superman, and "Catwoman" states Batman's weird behavior was induced by a special brand of catnip. |
| 59 | * ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIDW'': The series plays with this trope. Splinter and the turtles are still animals mutated by Ooze, but they turn out to be reincarnations of a Samurai Lord, Hamato Yoshi, and his four sons, respectively. |
| 60 | [[/folder]] |
| 61 | |
| 62 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 63 | * ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In an inversion of her DoingInTheWizard in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', it's confirmed here that the reborn [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonTitansAndOtherCreatures Mothra]] remembers what happened to her previous incarnation in Boston after it laid her current incarnation's egg, in contrast to how Ghidorah's shed skins and regenerated heads only share pre-severing memories with their counterparts and separately make new memories afterwards. This heavily implies there's more to Mothra's BornAgainImmortality than just an advanced GeneticMemory. |
| 64 | * It is very obvious that the writer of ''Fanfic/DoorsToTheUnknown'' is very well versed in the lore of TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons as well as Literature/{{Worm}}. They also show a remarkable degree of insight into nuclear and subatomic physics. Up to the point of having an actual real-life scientist show up, and discuss some of his work with Valigan. Also, whenever a real-world location appears, everything is perfectly mapped out to the real layout of the location ([[spoiler:as can be seen during the battle with Leviathan]]). |
| 65 | * Throughout ''Fanfic/KnowThyselfThePrelude'', a lot of the unusual circumstances surrounding Harry that were revealed to be magic in the ''Harry Potter'' canon are passed off as Harry being a ChildProdigy at manipulating the false reality of the Matrix just like every other redpill, [[spoiler:until Harry discovers that he can teleport in the Real World too, implying that it really ''is'' magic]]. |
| 66 | * ''Fanfic/MyMiraculousAcademia'': To help deflect from Izuku's "quirk" altering clothes (a fact he has no explanation to), Momo makes a passive remark about how sometimes quirks seem to only exist to frustrate scientists. |
| 67 | * In ''Manga/OnePiece'' canon, [[PowerUpFood Devil Fruits]] are treated as FantasticScience. In ''Fanfic/VoyagesOfTheWildSeaHorse'', [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma and his companions]] simply refer to Devil Fruits as "magic", goaded by the fact their DimensionalTraveler Umok, TheImp and a self-proclaimed wizard, explicitly calls the energies within Devil Fruits "magical" and even says that the energies in [[{{Animorphism}} Zoan]] Devil Fruits seem similar to the energies of Jusenkyo curses. |
| 68 | * In ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestria'', the zebras fought to the planet's destruction because they believed that Princess Luna was an ApocalypseMaiden connected to an evil entity that had fallen to the planet as a meteorite. [[DoingInTheWizard That turned out to be completely false]], with the meteorite being ordinary (radioactive) rock. RecursiveFanfiction ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestriaProjectHorizons'' instead runs with the core concept of "what if the zebra beliefs were ''right''?" [[spoiler:There ''is'' a soul-trapping magical abomination residing in the Hoofington region whose material form is the metal from a fallen star, and the story is largely about building up to our heroes learning that this is the case and trying to destroy it.]] |
| 69 | * ''Fanfic/TheMorrigan'' initially treats [[AppliedPhlebotinum Permet]] the same way the original anime did, as a fictional mineral with unusual properties that can cause some weird effects under specific circumstances, especially when interacting with experimental GUND technology. Certainly a bit weird, but within reason for soft sci-fi technology. Chapter 52 throws that right out the window by revealing Notrette Rembran's theory that [[spoiler:Permet is pieces of a universe-spanning network that serves as the universe's consciousness made up off the souls of the dead, turning what was believed to be just advanced BrainUploading into the afterlife itself]]. |
| 70 | * The fan novelization ''Fanfic/TheMythOfLinkAndZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', which adapts the game of the same name, changes the nature of {{multishot}} bows that Link uses. Instead of them being a sign of incredible skill on the part of the archer, it's instead the result of magic imbued into the bow that divides the arrow. It takes ''far'' more skill than the game implied to do a {{multishot}} without magic, something that Link can't even do. |
| 71 | [[/folder]] |
| 72 | |
| 73 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 74 | * ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' bounces back and forth between this and DoingInTheWizard in its backstory, but in the end this wins out. Bonus points for it being the crazy scientist whose theory does in the science. The invisible "aliens" turn out to be ghosts from a long dead world accompanied by a fragment of their planet's Life Force, and Earth's Gaia spirit turns out to also be real. |
| 75 | * Both ''WesternAnimation/TheGoodDinosaur'' and ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'' started as fairly mundane [[TheWildWest Wild West]] stories before being turned into cartoons about [[FunnyAnimal Funny Animals]] interacting with people. |
| 76 | * ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch2StitchHasAGlitch''. [[spoiler: After they are too late to save Stitch from his malfunction and he shuts down, Lilo's tear brings him back to life.]] Pleakley asks Jumba for the scientific explanation. Jumba proudly states (as if he knew any other way to state things) that there is no possible scientific explanation, declares it a miracle, and celebrates. |
| 77 | * At the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'', Tala's stories are dismissed as nonsense and problems like the decrease in the fish population of the lagoon and the disease in the coconut groves are assumed to have scientific solutions (clear the diseased trees for a new grove in a different location and rotating fishing grounds, respectively). These don't pan out and Moana has to return a magical artifact to a goddess so this goddess can restore life and prosperity to the islands. |
| 78 | * The main premise of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'' is [[Franchise/ScoobyDoo the gang]]'s reaction to finally facing with the supernatural, after so many years spent debunking hauntings as [[ScoobyDooHoax hoaxes and criminal plots]]. |
| 79 | [[/folder]] |
| 80 | |
| 81 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 82 | * ''Film/AfterEarth'' was inspired by a real story involving a father and son having a car accident in the woods and the son going to look for help. It was changed to a father and son crashing a spaceship in a future Earth where everything has been designed or altered by aliens to kill humans. The monster ''Ursa''? Likely first conceived as a [[BearsAreBadNews grizzly bear]], ''Ursus arctos horribilis''. |
| 83 | * ''Film/Beowulf1999'': Despite the SettingUpdate to TheFuture AfterTheEnd, Beowulf is [[AdaptationalSpeciesChange changed]] from a mere human to a superpowered [[HalfHumanHybrid half human, half demon]] warrior. |
| 84 | * ''Film/ChildrenOfTheCornIITheFinalSacrifice'' [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane suggested]] that contaminated corn has been causing hallucinations that appears as demonic activity to anyone near it. ''Film/ChildrenOfTheCornIIIUrbanHarvest'' ignores this, and in turn ramps up the supernatural powers used by the requisite DarkMessiah child leader. |
| 85 | * The early SlasherMovie ''Film/DontGoInTheHouse'' ended with a TheEndOrIsIt, which revealed that the voices that had been driving the villain to kill and which the viewer had assumed to be hallucinations were actually a real supernatural force of evil that had moved on to bait someone else. |
| 86 | * Played with in ''Film/HellraiserHellworld''. The [[ArtifactOfDoom Lament Configuration]]? An online puzzle. [[BigBad Pinhead]]? Literally called a franchise icon. Hellworld? An exclusive, debauched party. It's all just a game, until things get real and cenobites start showing up and the bloodbath begins. Then the wizard is done in a second time, [[spoiler: as it's all the means a mundane killer uses to pick off the protagonists after drugging them with hallucinogens so they'd see what he put in their heads]]. Then, the wizard rises from the grave to kill the scientist, as the original killer opens the Lament Configuration and the franchise icon puts in his obligatory appearance. |
| 87 | * Much of the early ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' was based on DoingInTheWizard, and later installments instead focused on bringing characters closer to their comic origins. |
| 88 | ** ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'': Tony suggests that the Hulk (A.K.A "The Other Guy") is not triggered by Bruce's heart rate ''per se'', but that the Hulk deliberately manifests to protect Bruce in dangerous (i.e. heart-pounding) situations. Thus, it is an ally to be embraced instead of a monster to be caged. The events of the movie support this view. Bruce tells TheTeam that Hulk at one point prevented a suicide attempt, and later it emerges in the final battle because Bruce told it to. |
| 89 | ** ''Film/{{Doctor Strange|2016}}'' was the first film in the franchise to explicitly have magic. Previous films were, at most, MaybeMagicMaybeMundane. This movie pulls no punches drawing a hard line between magic and science, and never attempts to explain the sorcerers as anything else. |
| 90 | ** After two films stating that the Asgardians are actually just {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s instead of gods, ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' contradicts this and establishes that no, they really ''are'' {{Physical God}}s, and Loki, Hela, and Thor are repeatedly addressed as God of Mischief, Goddess of Death, and God of Thunder, respectively. Thor realizing Mjölnir was only a conduit for his [[ShockAndAwe powers]] rather than their source is a major plot point. In ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}'', the titular character's abilities don't work in the TVA's AntiMagic field, while advanced technology still does. |
| 91 | ** ''Series/WandaVision'': In previous movies, Wanda's powers were given a "scientific" explanation (psionic abilities granted by HYDRA experiments with the Mind Stone). Here, her powers are explicitly identified as magical, and they follow the rules of other magic. It's theorized that Wanda was born with a modicum of magical talent, which awakened into the infinitely powerful [[RealityWarper Chaos Magic]] by exposure to the Mind Stone. Wanda denies this explanation at first, sticking with what HYDRA told her, but she later accepts her identity as [[TheChosenOne the Scarlet Witch]]. |
| 92 | * ''Film/MortalKombat2021'' does this to characters who used technology to get their powers in [[Franchise/MortalKombat the games]]- Sonya and her wrist lasers, Jak and his mechanical arms, Kano and his cybernetic laser eye- and has them derived instead from Arcanas, special magical abilities. |
| 93 | * In ''Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful'', a {{prequel}} to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', Oz is a real place. Dorothy just saw all the parallels between people she met in Oz and people she knew earlier and ''assumed'' it was AllJustADream. (Note that this [[AdaptationDisplacement only applies to the movies]]; in the books it's always clear that Oz is a real, magical place.) |
| 94 | * ''Film/ThePrestige'' has an odd variant of this that falls somewhere between this trope and DoingInTheWizard. From the beginning, the movie is presented as a fairly mundane PeriodPiece about a pair of Victorian stage magicians battling over trade secrets for their magical acts. Naturally, we assume that all of their magic tricks can be explained away as clever illusions, even when both men come up with magic tricks that apparently let them teleport instantly from one side of a stage to another. [[spoiler: Neither trick is ''magic'', per se, but one of them turns out to have been accomplished with a replication/cloning device invented by Nikola Tesla, unexpectedly pushing the movie into science fiction territory.]] |
| 95 | * The final scene and sequels of FleshEatingZombie movie ''Film/{{REC}}'' reveal that the rabies-like virus responsible for the zombies is actually a form of transmissible DemonicPossession. |
| 96 | * ''Film/ScoobyDoo2002'' includes actual demonic creatures controlled by [[spoiler:the pissed-off Scrappy Doo]], rather than the [[StrictlyFormula typical]] ScoobyDooHoax. |
| 97 | * The Death Star from ''Franchise/StarWars'', while always an extremely powerful superweapon, was originally known as a "technological terror" distinct from the ways of the Force, something the ''Legends'' continuity ran with. When the ContinuityReboot rolled around, the new Expanded Universe refined the concept of "kyber crystals", Force-powered crystals which not only power lightsabers but also were used to power ancient Sith superweapons -- as well as to power the Death Star's superlaser. In other words, the Death Star was retconned from being pure technology into being Dark Side {{magitek}} -- something which puts Vader's "the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force" into a new light. |
| 98 | [[/folder]] |
| 99 | |
| 100 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 101 | * The ''Literature/{{Dexter}}'' novels, after a couple of books which appeared to be non-magical crime stories, suddenly threw in literal Christian demons and tried to claim that Dexter was demonically possessed. This did not go down well with many of the fans. |
| 102 | * ''Literature/TheExilesViolin'': Despite all the talk about how alchemy is nothing more than chemistry+mysticism and general disbelief in magic, the Exile's Violin has real magic power and the 'alchemically enhanced' swords that previously defeated it are the only weapons that can stop it. |
| 103 | * ''Literature/TrappedOnDraconica'': Early on, Alister's advisors say they 'stopped believing in magic years ago' and insist that the dragokin powers are not magic despite being bestowed on the princesses by a dragon god. Shortly afterward, Gothon uses teleportation magic to launch a sneak attack: Its purpose is to capture Ben and steal his definitely magical powers to travel between worlds. |
| 104 | [[/folder]] |
| 105 | |
| 106 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 107 | * ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': |
| 108 | ** Simmons initially thinks that Will's stories of "It" and the Monolith planet having "moods" are just symptoms of his long isolation and that there is a scientific explanation. When she sees "It" for herself, and that a gorge suddenly became much wider when they needed to cross it, she decides otherwise. |
| 109 | ** Certain characters in-series think there is some sort of scientific explanation for Robbie's Ghost Rider powers, either "enhanced" like Steve Rogers or Inhuman like Daisy. However, Robbie later claims that he literally sold his soul to the Devil [[spoiler: (or rather, a previous Ghost Rider)]] and the show's creators have confirmed that he's explicitly supernatural. |
| 110 | --->'''Jeffrey''': Is he Inhuman?\ |
| 111 | '''Coulson''': Claims he made a deal with the Devil.\ |
| 112 | '''Fitz''': Which is nonsense.\ |
| 113 | '''Coulson''': You know, the rationalist in me wants to agree, but the ''skull on fire'' presents a pretty compelling argument for "Hail Satan." |
| 114 | ** Fitz spends much of the fourth season trying to find rational explanations for ghosts, demons, and magic books. While he does occasionally make progress (such as when he and Simmons find a cure for the ghost insanity), the Ghost Rider and the Darkhold continually confound his attempts to understand. He finally stops trying to classify Ghost Rider as a normal Gifted when he witnesses the Spirit of Vengeance jump out of [[spoiler:Robbie and into Mack]] in order to escape Hell, and several times he is forced to summarize the Darkhold's abilities as "no, that is not possible, I don't care that it's happening right in front of me, ''it's not possible''." |
| 115 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'' toyed with the idea that at least some of the First Ones' powers were magical for a long time, but always also left it open that it was just the tech of {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s. Then ''The Lost Tales'' depicted what appeared to be an actual Christian demon (it was implied that the entity's actual nature was more complex than that, but it was still strongly suggested to be genuinely supernatural). |
| 116 | * ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' began as hard science fiction and slowly acquired more and more religious/fantastic elements: precognition, incorporeal beings, restoration of destroyed objects and resurrection from the dead. The series ended with the characters putting the events of the series down to divine intervention, although strictly speaking the viewers are left to make up their own minds. |
| 117 | * While ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' is mostly focused on magic and demons, a few antagonists, like [[RobotMaster Warren, the original Ted]] and [[MadScientist Professor Walsh]], used sci-fi tropes. WordOfGod says they could pull off things like semi-sapient robots and invisibility rays because they're actually [[MagicPoweredPseudoscience magical savants]] fueled by the Hellmouth (or something). The Hellmouth attracts demons ''and'' encourages weirdness of all kinds, sometimes spontaneous (“Nightmares”, “Out of Mind, Out of Sight”, “I Only Have Eyes For You”, “Where the Wild Things Are”), sometimes in the form of mad science. |
| 118 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 119 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E8TheImpossiblePlanet "The Impossible Planet"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E9TheSatanPit "The Satan Pit"]]: In contrast to the series' usual tendency to offer scientific explanations for various {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, although the Doctor clearly doesn't believe that the Beast is {{Satan}} like it claims to be, he gets rather cagey when pressed on what he thinks it actually was. He eventually admits that he can't dismiss it with a scientific explanation as easily as he normally would. |
| 120 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E3UnderTheLake "Under the Lake"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E4BeforeTheFlood "Before the Flood"]]: The Doctor denounces "ghosts" as nonsense. Then he changes his mind and says that yes, they really are the souls of dead people. They're not something scientific like Auton duplicates, flesh avatar clones or digital copies "floating about the Nethersphere". He's ecstatic to meet a "proper ghost". [[spoiler:And then the story [[DoingInTheWizard does in the wizard]] by revealing the "ghosts'" true nature.]] |
| 121 | * The episode "Dreams in the Witch House" of ''Series/GuillermoDelTorosCabinetOfCuriosities'', almost based InNameOnly on the short story ''Literature/TheDreamsInTheWitchHouse'' by Creator/HPLovecraft, changes Walter Gilman from a physics student who thinks the Witch's magic is some kind of undescribed science allowing her to travel within dimensions, to a believer in Spiritualism who wants to contact his dead twin sister, whom he saw die and rise as a ghost when he was a child. The episode also adds a MagicalNativeAmerican capable of taking people to the spirit world with a drug, and a prophet woman that can enter the spirit world on her own and has seen that Walter must die to allow the Witch back in the world of the living. Because the Witch is also said to be dead from the beginning and having been hanged in Salem, while in the story she vanished from gaol and it is not until much later that her skeleton is found. Finally, the episode ends with [[spoiler:Brown Jenkin assuming control of Walter's body after killing him, rather than just doing the latter]]. |
| 122 | * ''Series/LifeOnMars2006'' hints that the TimeTravel is just in Sam Tyler's head from the opening narration ("Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time?"), and the series strongly suggests that it is all AdventuresInComaland as it progresses, with random bits of the modern day/real world slipping into Sam's [[TheSeventies '70s]] world. The scripted finale [[spoiler:confirmed this by having Sam wake up from said coma, finding his new life so empty that he decided to commit suicide, after which the screen switched to [[TheNothingAfterDeath black]]]]. However, the aired finale turned this scene on its head by adding a scene after where [[spoiler:Sam meets his friends from the '70s, thus turning the coma dream into an AfterlifeAntechamber]]. Later on, the sequel ''Series/AshesToAshes'' had a new different character thrown in the same place, [[spoiler:and revealed that Nelson and ''Gene Hunt'', of all people, were spirit guides helping recently deceased cops]]. |
| 123 | * ''Series/{{Lost}}'': |
| 124 | ** The series danced with a scientific explanation for everything in Seasons 4 and 5. Season 6, meanwhile, reverts back to fantasy, focusing the plot around two people who seem to be immortal demigods (one of whom has even been theorized to be an outright ''genie'', since he claims to be able to grant wishes to his followers and who is being kept on the Island like a cork keeps wine in a bottle) while introducing rules about not being able to kill somebody if they speak to you first, a healing spring that turns you evil when it's grimy, and so on. |
| 125 | ** The show played with the idea of science vs. faith, as epitomized by Jack and Locke respectively. There are scientific explanations for many of the things that happened (plane crashed, the time travel, etc.), and though Jacob guided the events of the whole show, it doesn't mean the actual events lack a scientific reason as to how they happened. Put simply, the writers deliberately wrote the show so that most events were a blend of the scientific and the faith-oriented, and very few things were purely one or the other. |
| 126 | * ''Series/OnceUponATime'' is a predominantly {{Fantasy}}-based show, so characters that exhibit faith and association in science (or at least the ScienceFiction-based science native to alternate worlds) are few and far between. The biggest distinction (or rather, the lack thereof) made with science and magic in ''[=OUAT=]'' is that both science and magic have a give-and-take "PowerAtAPrice" law that predicates the universe. While magic users are fully aware of this principle, (with "magic comes at a price" being Rumpelstiltskin's catchphrase) and will either warn others of this or arrogantly try to have others pay that price, science-users like Victor Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll believe in progress's inherent goodness and end up screwing themselves over in the process, not learning a thing. When this fallout inevitably happens, then they will reluctantly come to rely on magic, such as when Victor acquires a magically-removed heart to finish his experiments to resurrect his dead brother, and later asks Rumpelstiltskin to use his magic to reattach his severed arm. |
| 127 | * ''Series/QuantumLeap's'' series finale revealed that {{God}} was not controlling Sam's actions but there were other non-technological based Leapers who were guardian angels thought dead or disappeared, and that most of the things previously thought to run on science actually ran on magical miracles. However, all along it was suggested that his constant leaping was not due to the machine he built but some outside force. |
| 128 | * After ''Series/{{Runaways|2017}}'' caught ''a lot'' of flack for trying to turn the Staff of One from a magical staff to [[ClarkesThirdLaw nanotech]], thus robbing Nico Minoru of her most appealing aspect (being a Japanese-American teenage witch). Season 2 does course correction by going the opposite way and establishing that the Staff of One ''is'' magic, even connected to the [[Film/DoctorStrange2016 Dark Dimension]], and the previous explanation was a cover-up. They also reveal that the Gibborim are in fact a real entity, after it seemed they were AdaptedOut for another scientific replacement with Jonah. |
| 129 | * According to the OpeningNarration of ''Series/TheSentinel'', the fight for survival in the jungles of Peru heightened his senses, but the episodes attributed it to MagicalNativeAmerican powers. |
| 130 | ** The French opening narration walked around this by being more "open" to the magical interpretation. |
| 131 | ** It's also stated by [[TheLoad Sandburg]] that each tribe had its own Sentinel, a person genetically-predisposed to hypersensitivity, designated as its protector. In this case, Jim is the protector of his "tribe" - the city of Cascade. |
| 132 | * ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' gets closer to this than any other incarnation. The Prophets of Bajor live in a separate plane of existence and watch over the people of Bajor, who worship them as Gods. As far as everybody else is concerned, they're {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s who live in a temporally non-linear plane of existence. The series never comes down hard on what they are but had something of a ToneShift. Sisko, Jadzia Dax, and Gul Dukat all start out as either aloof or skeptical to the Prophets' [[spoiler: or Pah Wraiths']] divinity, but end up embracing it to some degree in the end. Also, in the last seasons of the Dominion War arc, a lot of Action / HighFantasy tropes (TheChosenOne, FinalBattle, EvilCounterpart) start to overtake the slow-burning character growth and social realism. There's no Sci-Fi explanation for what's going on much of the time. "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E25E26WhatYouLeaveBehind What You Leave Behind]]" feels much more like ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing Return of the King]]'' than "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E24AllGoodThings All Good Things]]". |
| 133 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': |
| 134 | ** Anything thought to be science ends up being magic or because of magical entities. The kicker for any fan of this trope is that science is also useless in the show itself (i.e. most monsters can only be killed in specific magical ways, if they can even be killed at all). |
| 135 | ** The show has a RunningGag about how AllMythsAreTrue... except the seemingly down to earth BigfootSasquatchAndYeti, who most versions would have as mere animals, but here is [[ArbitrarySkepticism complete hogwash]]. Then in one episode, Dean and Sam are presented with fresh prints leading to a tall, hairy humanoid... that is revealed to actually be a giant teddy bear animated by a magic wish well. |
| 136 | * In ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' it turns out that Jonathan Gilbert's inventions don't work, but were enchanted by Emily unbeknownst to him to fulfill their intended function. This didn't cause backlash, seeing as magic is already established and the alternative is a 19th century, ''clockwork powered'' vampire detector. |
| 137 | [[/folder]] |
| 138 | |
| 139 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 140 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' see-saws back and forth on this one with Orks. DependingOnTheWriter, Orkish technology is either real technology they're able to build and use due to it being built into their genes, or it's pure magic powered solely by their belief it will work. Sometimes humans are able to use it with no trouble other than it being a bit crude, other times even simple things like guns turn out to just be full of metal scraps that couldn't possibly do anything. |
| 141 | * This trope is played in-universe in ''TableTopGame/MageTheAscension''. The Technocratic Union is a group of magical scientists who are attempting to [[DoingInTheWizard do in the Wizard]], while Traditions are more "wizard-like" and try to do in the Scientist. In short, the Technocrats (at their best) push for a scientific, rational worldview and the Traditionalists (again, at their best) push for a mystical, spiritual one. Both of the major factions are, to a great degree, trying to influence human society into accepting their point of view in order to solidify reality with their own vision. The irony in part stems from a serious case of GreyAndGrayMorality. |
| 142 | ** As stated on Doing in the Wizard, in Mage, the Wizard and the Scientist are metaphorically the same person, whom we could call Humanity. Humanity uses the lab coat, the abacus, and the computer some days, the cloak, the chicken entrails, and prayer the next, all in a pointless argument with itself. The most common resolution to the game's Meta Plot is that the Wizard and Scientist get it together and help Humanity AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence. |
| 143 | [[/folder]] |
| 144 | |
| 145 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 146 | * Though the units and techs are still history-based, ''Videogame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'' deviates from its predecessors in having a fantasy campaign about a highly fictionalized version of UsefulNotes/TheKnightsHospitallers and their American descendants battling a secret society called The Circle of Ossus (implied to be descendants of UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar in supplementary material), for exclusive access to the FountainOfYouth (which exists, and does extend your life to ''superbicentenarian''). This [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks didn't go well]] with fans of the franchise. |
| 147 | ** The first expansion, ''The [=WarChiefs=]'', addressed this criticism by having two more history-based campaigns (one set in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution and another in the Sioux Wars) and not mentioning the Circle of Ossus again, despite following other generations of the same family. However, the new [[MagicalNativeAmerican Native American]] civilizations also got bonuses from ritually dancing around firepits and could recruit wild animals into their forces, which [[AmericansHateTingle didn't sit well]] with some Native American groups. |
| 148 | * Through most of ''VideoGame/BrothersInArms Hell's Highway'', Matthew Baker's dead squadmate, Kevin Leggett, appears in either {{flashback}}s or as Baker's presumably PTSD-induced hallucinations. But then Legget appears as a ghost in the last cutscene, "Farewell is Goodbye". |
| 149 | * The first episode of ''VideoGame/FaithTheUnholyTrinity'' involves a man named John trying to exorcise a girl whilst dealing with a strange white monster. The game leaves these [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane supernatural happenings ambiguous,]] with some hints that the girl is just mentally ill and not possessed, the monster being some sort of hallucination, [[spoiler: and one possible ending implying John himself is outright insane.]] The second episode on the other hand completely discards all non-supernatural explanations, with the existence of demons being confirmed and that white monster turning out to be a [[WasOnceAMan human boy who was mutated by demonic influence.]] The third episode proceeds to bury the scientist by having a sorcerous cult, numerous [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils high-ranking demons]], [[spoiler: and God Himself]] getting involved in the plot. |
| 150 | * ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys1'' leaves it ambiguous why the animatronics at the titular SuckECheeses want to kill you; Phone Guy says that it's a programming malfunction, but several {{Easter Egg}}s imply that the robots are actually haunted by the spirits of murdered children. ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys2'' makes it clear that the supernatural explanation is ''definitely'' correct, as the death minigames show the story of ''how'' the animatronics came to be haunted. |
| 151 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoOnline'' has an example that drives home the CrapsackWorld nature of the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' universe. Starting with ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas San Andreas]]'', the Epsilon Program, the series' [[ChurchOfHappyology stand-in for the Church of Scientology]], has been portrayed as a kooky, exploitative {{cult}} whose leader Cris Formage is a charlatan who's in it purely for the money and the women. In ''GTA Online'', however, the first time your character gets killed, Formage [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttp3Y6MXC5Y appears to you]] in spirit form, where he demonstrates that his powers are in fact ''real'' and that the Epsilon Program is in fact the way to salvation. (From a gameplay perspective, [[SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration this explains how respawning and Passive Mode work]].) That's right. In the ''GTA'' universe, there is a One True Faith -- and it's a New Age UFO cult whose leader [[PowerPerversionPotential uses his powers to secretly stalk people]]. |
| 152 | -->'''Cris Formage:''' Welcome, brother, brother. Welcome. You see? [[TheyCalledMeMad They said I was a charlatan. A fraud, a nothing.]] But I am a miracle. [[WhosLaughingNow Look and behold in wonder.]] |
| 153 | * ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' takes place in the same world of ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'', but purges all elements of ScienceFantasy into a pure fantasy world. While magic in ''Might And Magic'' does exist; many parts of the world are the result of different [[LostColony crashed spaceships]], multiple seemingly spiritual forces like demons are revealed to be {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s, and many magical artifacts are [[ClarkesThirdLaw advanced technology.]] In ''Heroes Of Might And Magic'' there are no more crashed spaceships, demons are now actual evil spirits from Hell rather than aliens from another planet, and all those futuristic gadgets are instead proper enchanted artifacts. The creators had plans to [[DoingInTheWizard invert this]] in the third game by bringing in an alien faction, however extreme fan backlash made them see everyone preferred the wizard's version of the world and it has remained so since. |
| 154 | * ''VideoGame/LimbusCompany'' has [[MagicAntidote K Corp's products]], which are explained as nanomachines that repair the body. About halfway through the chapter explaining their inner workings, it is revealed they're actually [[spoiler: [[SwissArmyTears healing tears]] extracted from a constantly-tortured EldritchAbomination sealed in their headquarters.]] |
| 155 | * In ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'', it is shown that the [[NighInvulnerability Nigh-Invulnerable]] Nova monsters can be harmed by [[LightEmUp a special kind of energy]] given off by Sophie. Later, it's revealed that Sophie is actually a RobotGirl created by the people of a different planet... and ''then'' it turns out that the thing that powers her mysterious attacks is actually the mystical energy of the planet. Similarly, the laws of the world of Fodra were thought to be entirely natural until [[EldritchAbomination Lambda]] was discovered in its core. |
| 156 | * Early on in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', it is revealed that there's a kind of cloning technology called "fomicry". How it operates isn't explained but it's assumed to be scientific. Turns out that's only half right: The ''process'' by which it is done is technological but the thing that ''allows'' it is actual magic, the energy given off by the local CrystalDragonJesus. |
| 157 | * ''VideoGame/Tekken4'' took a sudden and drastic turn towards DoingInTheWizard compared to the supernatural and soft sci-fi themes in the first game. Most notably, the Devil possessing Jin and Kazuya was first referred to as "the Devil Gene" in this game and described as a mutation. Ogre, similarly, was called a "bioweapon" instead of an ancient warrior god. The only robot was Combot, a ClockworkCreature rather than the {{Ridiculously Human Robot|s}} JACK series, and there's only one "fighting animal"--Kuma, who is pretty much an ordinary bear. Following games in the series brought the supernatural elements right back, but also folded most of the scientific elements right on top of them. The Devil Gene, for instance, is revealed to be a genetically-inherited curse. |
| 158 | [[/folder]] |
| 159 | |
| 160 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 161 | * ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has an odd progression. At first, Tedd was a TeenGenius who invented a TransformationRay gun. Then it was retconned to be [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum Alien Technology]], which was then retconned to be {{Magitek}}, which was then retconned to be full-on magic only possible due to the intervention of immortal beings in the area. "Take THAT Science Fiction!". |
| 162 | * ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' featured robots for many chapters, before it was revealed that some - if not all of them - are magitek, and capable of operating without motors, actuators, or any visible power source. In retrospect, this helps explain how Antimony - who by her own admission doesn't know the first thing about how robots work - was able to single-handedly reassemble Robot S13. |
| 163 | * ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': It was originally implied that Oasis was the creation of MadScientist Dr. Steve, being either a robot he built or a human girl he {{Brainwashed}} and physically enhanced. Several years later, it's revealed that Dr. Steve didn't create Oasis at all; while exactly ''what'' she is remains unclear, researchers have labelled her "proof-positive paranormal" and stated "[[http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=090608 nobody made Oasis into a weapon but God]]." Fantasy elements have been part of ''Sluggy Freelance'' since day one, so this revelation isn't as jarring as it might be in other series. [[DoingInTheWizard Subverted later]] when her "Pyrokinesis" and apparent immortality are explained as her being a satellite station housing her mind and being equipped with advanced weaponry. |
| 164 | * Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}} laughed at the idea of anyone using magic (especially the kind inspired by a tabletop game) and thought "Spirit of the Tiger" was an euphemism for steroids. Then Mecha Maid tells her that the latter is not a euphemism and Alexis performs the Ritual of Lolth for real. |
| 165 | * ''WebComic/WoodenRose'': Eric originally attributed his wife's pregnancy to infidelity but when he saw that the child was [[spoiler:a tree spirit, and that it came to term in a week instead of nine months]], he had no choice but to accept that the supernatural was involved. |
| 166 | [[/folder]] |
| 167 | |
| 168 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 169 | * In ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'', it was revealed that all the advanced fictional technology Linkara has been using ([[Franchise/StarTrek phasers and tricorders]], [[Franchise/PowerRangers morphers]], Franchise/{{poke|mon}}balls, etc.) are actually just toys that he's been enchanting using a magic book that can turn the image of something into the actual thing. Oddly, there's still genuine sci-fi stuff; its quite explicitly only the borrowed technology that was actually magic. |
| 170 | * It was revealed near the end of ''WebVideo/{{lonelygirl15}}'' that trait positives are actually the descendants of the fertility goddess Hathor, although this was left open to interpretation. |
| 171 | * The Website/SCPFoundation has always concerned the paranormal. At some point in the site's history, the concept of a unit of "realness" called the Hume was introduced to explain how objects gain their paranormal properties. However, [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-3812 SCP-3812]] proved to be undetectable by use of Hume reading devices, which was variously theorized in-fiction to either be due to extremely high or low readings, or that its RealityWarper abilities are tied to an entirely different mechanism. This helped the writing community in general go back to treating the series as paranormal rather than high-concept science fiction. |
| 172 | [[/folder]] |
| 173 | |
| 174 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 175 | * In the pilot of ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'', it seems like a shadow monster is raising the tides in Corginia, but the monster is actually just a spider's shadow and the tides are a result of a broken water pipe. Downplayed in the show proper, where the shadow is still a spider, but the tides are caused by the orbs that keep the worlds in the train cars together being removed. |
| 176 | * In ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', Shego's hand blasts were at first implied to be devices in her gloves. Later it was firmly established to be a superpower given to her by a MagicMeteor. |
| 177 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' privides a variation, given that magic was known to be involved from the beginning. [[spoiler:When Luz first discovers glyph magic in "The Intruder", it's implied that she ended up finding it thanks to her phone's camera managing to capture it in a freeze frame. However, the GrandFinale reveals that it was actually the Titan [[MagicAIsMagicA taking advantage of the properties of the In Between Realm]] to show her though the reflective surface of the phone's screen.]] |
| 178 | * In the comics, ComicBook/{{Rahan}} often exposed alleged magic as fraud or misunderstood natural phenomena. However the 2009 cartoon series is a full on sword and sorcery work that gives Rahan a [[SidekickCreatureNuisance goblin-like sidekick]] and a legit witch as a nemesis. |
| 179 | * In ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', the MutagenicGoo that is a mainstay of the franchise is magical, rather than chemical, though with a hint of {{Magitek}}. The {{Mutants}} it creates were specifically turned into {{Youkai}}, though they're still called "mutants" to distinguish them from natural youkai (including the one who made the ooze, who still considers himself a scientist). |
| 180 | * A weird case from ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'', in which the Hysperians (essentially RenaissanceFair geeks who colonized a planet with dragons on it) rename the usual ''Trek'' TechnoBabble to [[CallARabbitASmeerp make it sound like it's actually magic]] (much to Rutherford's confusion). |
| 181 | * ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' has this in their origin story. In G1, the Autobots and Decepticons were manufactured by the Quintessons as slaves and weapons respectively (though prior to this story, super-computer Vector Sigma gave sentience to the Transformers while their origin was left unanswered). In later series it's said that they were created by an actual god, Primus, that is their planet. As in, their planet transforms into a god (This doesn't entirely count, however, as some continuities follow the Primus origin and some follow the Quintesson origin.) |
| 182 | ** The original Marvel comic from TheEighties takes the cake by beginning with the explanation that Transformers ''evolved'' from ''naturally occurring pulleys, levers and gears'' and later saying it was the god Primus. |
| 183 | ** Meanwhile, at least one guide book says "Okay, [[TakeAThirdOption Primus created them, THEN The Quintessons found them and modified them]]." |
| 184 | ** In the Japanese G1 continuity, the Quintessons created the Autobots and Decepticons, while the Oracle/Primus/Vector Sigma/Primacron's Assistant gave them sentience. |
| 185 | ** The Wreckers comic used that explanation to add that Vector Sigma was Primus' link with the Transformers, while [[WesternAnimation/BeastMachines the Oracle]] was a shell program created by the Quints to sever that link, manipulate Vector Sigma and send some fake prophecies. |
| 186 | * In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'', the ominous coral-monster that'd been lurking around the beach turned out to be [[RealAfterAll an actual coral-based sea monster]]... which had [[NotMeThisTime nothing to do]] with the crime the gang solved as they investigated its presence! |
| 187 | [[/folder]] |
| 188 | |
| 189 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 190 | * Obviously, science is a study of the real world and its laws but there have been many times the discovery of things have ended up being a lot weirder than the previously assumed explanation or that remain inexplicable. |
| 191 | ** Practically every new discovery is, for a time, a lot weirder than the previous mundane explanation. For example imagine what it was like when it was discovered sickness was not typically caused by airborne chemicals as previously thought, but by invisibly small harmful creatures. |
| 192 | * The entirety of quantum physics has been a thorn in the side of individuals who want reality to follow a determinist path and has long since proven non-intuitive paths like reality being a function of probability, reality being made of waves versus particles, and not really working within time. |
| 193 | * Sometimes when a new scientific theory eclipses an older one, the new explanation is significantly less mundane and sometimes even more poetic. For example tears were thought to simply be a signal that one is looking for emotional comfort (or that they have something in their eye). However it turns out tears really ''are'' liquid emotion[[note]]or rather the chemicals that trigger them diluted in other liquids. When you cry you are quite literally overflowing with emotions, so the body starts to physically get rid of them.[[/note]], something a poet would likely approve of. |
| 194 | * Creator/RogerPenrose, no stranger to DoingInTheWizard himself, pointed out consciousness may actually be irreducible as part of the universe (believing quantum physics may play a role in the event) so Artificial Intelligence may actually be impossible as a function of programming. This has not made him popular in some circles. |
| 195 | * David Chalmers has made his career as a philosopher pointing out the "Hard Problem of Consciousness" which many scientists have challenged (but quite a few more have agreed with). Basically, we can tell how a brain works but there's no real explanation for how it gives rise to a person having a subjective identity. |
| 196 | * The Catholic Church maintains a canonization board which includes a rotating group of atheist doctors invited to examine evidence of miracles in order to make sure any action they investigate for the purposes of declaring a new saint (they need two "proven" miracles) is actually inexplicable by science. Some of the miracles cited include a woman being healed of Parkinson's disease for John Paul II's canonization and the sudden healing of a club foot in India for the beatification of Thevarparampil Kunjachan. |
| 197 | * There have been numerous attempts to disprove several Christian relics' more bizarre properties like incorruptibility, the Shroud of Turin, the Blood of Saint Jannarius, the Eucharist of Lanciano, and the waters of Lourdes. Sometimes, these tests prove fruitful while other times they simply raise more questions. In a surprising reversal of how it usually works, there have actually been cases of fraud among skeptics like the attempt by Garza-Valdes to state there was a image of an Aztec goddess painted under the Our Lady of Guadalupe shroud. |
| 198 | * It's been said that a scientist's job is to destroy magic and turn it into science. It's been said that an engineer's job is to ''destroy science and create magic.'' There is a reason several engineers refer to themselves as Wizards. An engineer's job is to create solutions to problems that are usually intentionally obfuscating as possible within budgetary constraints, otherwise people can copy you/your employer. Most engineers are also taught to [[BlackBox "black box"]] as much as possible to save time, again taking the known and making it the unknown. And at the end of day, an engineer should have taken simpler components and made them into something more complex, and therefore less knowable, even if they aren't trying to throw people off. |
| 199 | * The theory of the UsefulNotes/{{evolution}} of species by natural selection was first formulated by UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. One reason you don't hear as much about Wallace these days is that he outlived Darwin for 30 years and bought hard on the Spiritualism fad of the Turn-of-the-Century, becoming a prominent advocate for it and the non-material origin of the human mind. |
| 200 | [[/folder]] |
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