Line #343 Main/PlotHole


1	->'''Yakko:''' ''[as [[Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream Puck]]]'' And this weak and idle theme, no more yielding, but a dream!\
2	'''Dot:''' ''[translating into LaymansTerms]'' There is a hole in the plot you could drive a truck through.
3	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''
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5	Plot Holes are those gaps in a story where things happen without a logical reason. When a Plot Hole involves something essential to a story's outcome, it can hurt the believability, for those who are bothered by such things. Hitting a Plot Hole at high speed can damage your WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief.
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7	'''Plot holes can come in many forms:'''
8	* Characters suddenly having knowledge that was never passed to them or, vice versa, characters not knowing something they knew last week, or something that anyone in their position must know.
9	* An event does not logically follow from what has gone before.
10	* An event occurring that other events in the work simply do not allow.
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12	'''Plot holes occur for several reasons:'''
13	* The author really wants to add a certain scene, even if the scene makes no sense. Rather than toss the scene out, or add a transition scene that will resolve the problem, the author goes right ahead and adds the scene anyway.
14	* The author forgets what was written earlier, and unknowingly creates a scene that goes completely against something that happened earlier. Can happen with really long stories, or ones that take a long time to write.
15	* In a [[DependingOnTheWriter multi-author]] {{continuity}}, one writer forgets, ignores, or [[CanonDiscontinuity rejects]] what another wrote.
16	* The scene that would have filled the plot hole was cut due to time constraints, the editors not realizing it was needed to fill the Plot Hole, or other reasons.
17	* [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole While adapting a story to a new medium]], the adaptation team made a wrong assumption about a future PlotPoint and added a detail which was later contradicted by the creator of the source material (compare OvertookTheManga). Another one is [[AdaptationExplanationExtrication removal of the explanation for a plot element]] without which the {{plot}} element doesn't make sense.
18	* [[DubInducedPlotHole A change is made during the localization of a work without also changing other elements that rely on it.]]
19	* In comedies, the plot hole may be deliberately induced as [[RuleOfFunny the basis for a joke]], usually consisting of LampshadeHanging.[[note]] By definition, a plot hole cannot be {{justified\|Trope}}, but if it is used by the author in this way, then it's not a case of bad writing.[[/note]]
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21	Plot holes are thus contradictions or glitches in the [[{{Worldbuilding}} fictional universe of a story]]. Even intentionally unrealistic, fantastical stories can suffer when plot holes arise, as audiences are willing to suspend disbelief regarding magic and other supernatural powers as long as the story makes sense [[MagicAIsMagicA within its own rules and is consistent]].
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23	It is also important to point out that plot holes aren't plot ''contrivances'', as the two terms are sometimes conflated. The difference between a plot hole and a plot contrivance is one of the impossible verses the improbable. A plot hole is something that happens in the narrative that's impossible due to the internal logic of the story's universe, or at least, the story have never established or even hinted at it as being possible. A plot contrivance is when something happens in the narrative that's certainly possible within the story's universe, but the chances of it happening are extremely, sometimes even infinitesimally slim, and only happens because the author needed it to happen. For such cases, the trope you would be looking for is ContrivedCoincidence.
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25	Also of note, is the fact that it is important to distinguish between plot holes and continuity errors. A continuity error is merely a minor oversight or mistake that doesn't change anything about the course of the story. In order to truly qualify as a plot hole, the gap in the story most also have at least some sort of tangible effect on the plot.
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27	Plot holes are sometimes plugged up or ignored with a casual HandWave, or occasionally dealt with by a LampshadeHanging, and some writers think Plot Holes that [[FridgeLogic only become apparent well after the story is over]] [[BellisariosMaxim aren't worth sweating]].
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29	Remember that Administrivia/TropesAreTools. Some stories contain plot holes as [[NegativeContinuity part of their basic nature]]. This includes many [[RuleOfFunny ludicrously comical]] works, and everything involving a TimeyWimeyBall. Even when it isn't being deliberately played for laughs, the storytelling and explanations necessary to close a plot hole might serve as a distraction from the main plot; especially for more minor or obscure plot holes, it often makes more sense for a writer or director to invoke the MST3KMantra and focus on their main story rather than getting bogged down in explaining minutiae.
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31	Can overlap with {{Retcon}} and ContinuitySnarl. A CliffhangerCopout can ''create'' a Plot Hole if a HandWave is handled poorly. An attempt to resolve or remove a Plot Hole that introduces ''another'' Plot Hole is a VoodooShark. Contrast WhatHappenedToTheMouse for potential plots that get dropped, then [[ChekhovsBoomerang picked up]]. See also WritersCannotDoMath.
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33	Also see FridgeLogic for cases where a Plot Hole isn't immediately obvious and only becomes visible in hindsight.
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35	!!No examples, please. [[Administrivia/DefinitionOnlyPages This only defines the term.]]

Context Main / PlotHole