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1->''"Magic and technology\
2Voodoo dolls and chants, electricity\
3We're makin' weird science\
4Fantasy and microchips\
5Shooting from the hip, something different\
6We're making weird science, ooh"''
7-->-- '''Music/OingoBoingo''', "Film/WeirdScience"
8
9Weird Science is the name for the style of storytelling made famous by the ScienceFiction "pulp" (named after the poor quality paper on which they got printed) magazines of the [[TheThirties 1930s]] and [[TheForties 1940s]]. By the [[TheFifties 1950s]], sales fell off, probably because of the advent of television. A few of these magazines had covers far trashier than the contents, while others reveled in cheese with the writers entertaining no delusions that they created great art.
10
11''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later ''Magazine/{{Analog}}''), ''Unknown'' (also known as ''Unknown Worlds''), and ''Galaxy'' published generally high-quality fiction. ''Magazine/AmazingStories'', ''Magazine/WeirdTales'' and ''Startling Stories'' and others occupied the middle strata while ''Captain Future'', ''Planet Stories'' and many, many others published the more shamelessly trashy material. (''Unknown'' and ''Weird Tales'' actually published mostly fantasy and horror, though individual ScienceFiction stories and elements would get incorporated in the stories too.) They specialized in imaginative stories of ScienceFiction, with the less highbrow magazines in particular having a good deal more "Boys Own Adventure" flair. The actual name ''Weird Science'' comes from Creator/ECComics {{Comic Book}}s, which tended to use the KarmicTwistEnding or, more rarely, the CruelTwistEnding. (EC also published ''Weird Fantasy'', actually another ScienceFiction comic, and merged the two titles later.)
12
13The stories featured exotic worlds, [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe buxom space babes]], [[GoodOldFisticuffs two-fisted heroes]] and, most importantly, the gee-whiz gadgetry that defines Weird Science. Many of the most notable names in science fiction and fantasy got their start writing in these magazines, and, as the century progressed, the standards both for storytelling and scientific plausibility increased, although an exciting story was always more important than a realistic one.
14
15Their influence is still widely felt: any ScienceFiction that involves derring-do with robots, rocketships and rayguns and doesn't worry about technical realism can be said to use Weird Science, but it is especially likely to be found in PlanetaryRomance.
16
17Note also that Weird Science is not the same as HollywoodScience; the former throws realism to the wind in order to create spectacle whereas the latter comes from not bothering to get things right that could have been. They often have similar effects, but different causes; Weird Science springs from RuleOfCool, whereas HollywoodScience grows from poor research. (The extreme case, most often found in comedy, is ItRunsOnNonsensoleum.)
18
19Not to be confused with the [[Film/WeirdScience movie]], [[Series/WeirdScience series]] or [[Music/OingoBoingo song]] of the same name, though the premise certainly is.
20----
21Weird Science tropes:
22* AIIsACrapshoot
23* AncientAstronauts
24* AppliedPhlebotinum
25* ArchaeologicalArmsRace
26* ArtificialZombie
27* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy
28* BrainInAJar
29* CoolStarship
30* CyberneticMythicalBeast
31* DisintegrationChamber
32* DoAnythingRobot
33* EnergyBeings
34* EnergyWeapons
35* FantasticScience
36* FlyingCar
37* FlyingSaucer
38* ''ForScience''
39* FormulaicMagic
40* FossilRevival
41* FreezeRay
42* HollowWorld
43* HomemadeInventions
44* HumongousMecha
45* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum
46* KillerGorilla
47* LEGOGenetics
48* LostTechnology
49* MadScientist
50** MadScientistLaboratory
51* MagicFromTechnology
52* MarsNeedsWomen
53* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup
54* NuclearMutant
55* OmnidisciplinaryScientist
56* OurClonesAreDifferent
57* OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious
58* PlantAliens
59* PostModernMagik
60* PsychicPowers
61* QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything
62* ReverseThePolarity
63* RobotBuddy
64* SchizoTech
65* ScienceHerosBabeAssistant
66* ShinyLookingSpaceships
67* SovietSuperscience
68* SpaceClothes
69* SpaceIsAnOcean
70* SpaceIsMagic
71* StockUnsolvedMysteries
72* StupidJetpackHitler
73* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien
74* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic
75* SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids
76* TechnicolorScience
77* {{Technopath}}
78* TeenGenius
79* TimeyWimeyBall
80* TinCanRobot
81* {{Teleportation}}
82* TransformationRay
83* {{Unobtainium}}
84* WaveMotionGun
85* {{Zeerust}}
86
87{{Settings}} where Weird Science is likely to be found:
88* AfterTheEnd -- ''long'' AfterTheEnd
89* ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway
90* PunkPunk (Especially SteamPunk, DieselPunk, and ClockPunk)
91* RaygunGothic
92* ScienceFantasy
93* SciFiKitchenSink
94* WeirdHistoricalWar
95* WorldOfWeirdness
96----
97!!Examples
98
99[[foldercontrol]]
100
101[[folder:Comic Books]]
102* As noted above, the {{Trope Namer|s}}, Creator/ECComics's ''Weird Science''. EC also published ''Weird Fantasy''. They later merged the two publications into ''Weird Science-Fantasy'' (because sales had flagged). Later on, they published the short-lived ''Incredible Science Fiction''.
103* Creator/DCComics' anthology titles ''Mystery in Space'' and ''Tales of the Unexpected''.
104* ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo'' is an AffectionateParody of the genre, with the FlatEarthAtheist protagonist [[LampshadeHanging frequently pointing out]] the HollywoodScience.
105* ''ComicBook/BlackScience'' is a GenreDeconstruction of this, playing many of its conventions for drama and horror. It takes particular influence from shows like ''Series/LostInSpace'', complete with a Dr. Smith {{Expy}}.
106[[/folder]]
107
108[[folder:Film]]
109* The ''Film/{{Flash Gordon|Serial}}'' and ''Series/{{Buck Rogers|InTheTwentyFifthCentury}}'' serials, and subsequent television or film remakes, are archetypal.
110* ''Franchise/StarWars'' famously draws from a tremendous range of influences, many not even from SpeculativeFiction, but all held together by a distinct Weird Science sensibility.
111* ''Film/MomAndDadSaveTheWorld'' somewhat parodies this, but in an affectionate way.
112* ''Film/{{Stargate}}'': the movie had a lot to do with this trope, as does the [[Franchise/StargateVerse series]].
113* ''Film/TheCore'': the idea of taking a giant drill vehicle into the depths of the planet is this trope; unfortunately, ''everything'' else in the movie is particularly bad HollywoodScience.
114* The ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' films (and the entire {{tokusatsu}} genre, for that matter) tend to be full of this. In ''Film/GodzillaVsMegaguirus'', the humans have developed a hilarious new weapon to deal with Godzilla: The "Dimension Tide" is a gun that will generate a small ''black hole'' and launch it at Godzilla. The hole will suck up Godzilla, sending him into a parallel dimension, and then vanish. (In the real world, in addition to being monstrously heavy and difficult to create, black holes are also fucking dangerous. Possibly more so than a giant lizard loose in your city. And they don't just vanish into thin air... [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole#Evaporation at least not peacefully.]]) At one point, Godzilla tries to defend himself against the Dimension Tide by ''[[BeamOWar shooting the hole]]'' with his energy beam breath.
115** An interesting case of Godzilla being on the ''receiving end'' of [[GodzillaThreshold his own threshold]].
116* With the creation of "Lisa" being the cornerstone, ''Film/WeirdScience'' is naturally about this trope (which in turn named the film, in an {{inverted t|rope}}wist on {{Trope Namer|s}} parameters).
117%%* The ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' franchise makes heavy use of this.
118[[/folder]]
119
120[[folder:Literature]]
121* As mentioned above this was a staple of the 30s and 40s pulps. Literature/DocSavage lived off this in particular.
122** Odd example, Literature/ConanTheBarbarian encounters a lost civilization in "Shadows of Xuthal" which has radium lighting and an elixir that both prolonged life and healed just about any wound or injury that wasn't immediately fatal.
123* Literature/{{Tarzan}} sometimes encountered lost civilizations that used this.
124** [[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars Barsoom used this to the max.]]
125* The ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' stories, originally published in ''Magazine/AmazingStories'' and ''Astounding Stories''.
126** Careful with this one... while it certainly applies to the Lens itself and the principles it uses, the straightforward physics is harder than it looks. Most of the basic concepts, although taken to spectacular extremes, are pretty sound according to the general understanding of physics and cosmology at the time the books were written. It's mainly a combination of the scale and spectacle, the way many of the ideas have been hit hard by ScienceMarchesOn, and certain persistent and oft-repeated misconceptions among the insufficiently-careful readership, which makes things look like this trope. Smith was a scientist himself, and in most of his works did mostly try to stick to what was more or less plausible at the time (with the exception of the ''Skylark'' series, where he did [[WordOfGod explicitly]] [[HollywoodScience abandon realism in the cause of spectacle]]).
127* Empire City in A. Lee Martinez' ''Literature/TheAutomaticDetective'' runs on this.
128* ''The Chinatown Death Cloud'' and its sequel ''The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown'' by Paul Malmont pay homage to this era with a couple of yarns in which [[Literature/DocSavage Lester Dent]], [[Literature/TheShadow Walter Gibson]], Creator/RobertAHeinlein, Creator/IsaacAsimov, Creator/LRonHubbard and other pulp writers investigate (and sometimes create) StockUnsolvedMysteries -- despite their very real flaws in comparison to the perfect straight-jawed heroes they churn out for a living.
129[[/folder]]
130
131[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
132* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' had an uneasy relationship with this trope, striving for something believeable, yet at the same time not having as much concern for being accurate. Gene Roddenberry's famous dictum to never actually explain any technology but just use it and let the audience accept it fits right in with the nature of Weird Science.
133* ''Series/DoctorWho'', in its "classic" phase, had an ambivalent relationship to it as well, usually reveling in it, though at various times CreativeDifferences and [[GenreShift Genre Shifts]] would affect how much the creators acknowledged it. The new series (and its spinoffs) under Creator/RussellTDavies embrace it.
134* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' has lots of this.
135* ''Series/LostInSpace'', especially in the bizarre alien gadgets and the MonsterOfTheWeek.
136* "Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainProton" on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' were an unabashed celebration of this trope (somehow fitting for the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' that tended to veer away the most from scientific plausibility).
137* Homaged in the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E13FarBeyondTheStars Far Beyond the Stars]]" where Captain Sisko falls into a coma and dreams that he's a science fiction writer for the 1950s PulpMagazine "Incredible Tales". [[OrWasItADream Or is he sci-fi writer Benny Russel escaping into a delusion based on his own writing?]]
138* Franchise/PowerRangers occasionally falls into this in its technology-based seasons.
139* While the movie was this to a lesser extent, the TV show Series/WeirdScience was this trope.
140* This is one of the main features of ''{{Series/Fringe}}'', with everything from travel between universes to Nazi biological weapons that kill everyone who is not blonde and blue-eyed.
141[[/folder]]
142
143[[folder:Pinball]]
144* [[Creator/MidwayGames Bally]]'s ''Pinball/DrDude'', which uses a Molecular Mixmaster and an E'''X'''cellent Ray to turn nerds into winners.
145[[/folder]]
146
147[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
148* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''.
149* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'':
150** ''TabletopGame/GURPSIlluminatiUniversity'' has the skill '''Science!''', as does ''TabletopGame/SpiritOfTheCentury'', [[TwoFistedTales a celebration of the 20s pulp era]]. Weird Science and Mad Science are playable advantages in the game -- the former allows you to make advanced gadgets that would be possible by modern technology while the latter covers pretty much anything you can come up with (although the GM ''can'' make a GameBreaker prohibitively expensive...).
151** ''GURPS 4e'' actually has a skill called "Weird Science" which lets you invent ridiculous devices. Whether you are believed or they work is entirely dependent on the setting. GURPS 4e also has "Science!" as a Wildcard skill, which can be substituted for ANY science skill but costs a ton to buy.
152* Gnomes in many ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' settings, including TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}} and TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}}. The ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' setting takes influence from this, in contrast to the HighFantasy style of most ''D&D'' settings.
153* ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' has this as one of the sets of player skills. This being an explicitly Faustian setting, the knowledge to make the gadgets comes from less than heavenly sources, and every new gadget you invent makes you a little more insane.
154* ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression'' has both Weird Science and a sort of [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] take on HollywoodScience; [[MadScientist Geniuses]] are capable of building Wonders, devices that ''should not work'' by the principles of proper science, but [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve do anyway]]. Until a [[{{Muggle}} mortal]] touches them, [[GoneHorriblyWrong anyway]]...
155* In ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'', the Sons of Ether run on this trope.
156* ''TabletopGame/{{Adventure}}!'', being another celebration of 20s pulp, allows any Inspired character to try their hand at super-science. Daredevils can create Advancements, devices a generation or two ahead of their time; Stalwarts and Mesmerists can also create Innovations, devices that mimic the Inspired's extraordinary abilities.
157* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', the blue/red Izzet League from the guild-dominated plane Ravnica run on this. Impossible is literally just a suggestion at best for them, and the things they create are [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=289222 weird indeed.]]
158* ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' has Weird Science coming out of its ears, from insane scientists inserting control chips into monsters, to killer robots and matter-energy converters.
159* A fixture of ''TabletopGame/{{TORG}}'', specifically its Nile Empire setting, which mimics the setting of pulp adventures. The world has a technology level roughly equivalent to Earth's during World War II, but it includes an element specifically called "Weird Science" to allow things like jetpacks and superhero gadgets to work, because those are genre-appropriate.
160[[/folder]]
161
162[[folder:Video Games]]
163* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' runs on the outrageous science of 1950s sci-fi flicks. The ''Old World Blues'' DLC from ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' takes this trope and runs with it. The first [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] you meet in the expansion are a group of scientists who sound like they just came out of a '50s sci-fi flick. One of them has NoIndoorVoice, claiming that people keep tampering with his volume knob. They also use BuffySpeak when trying to repeat the names of the gadgets that the others among them have invented, and the main threat is a MadScientist who is [[WorldOfHam just as hammy as everyone else]].
164-->'''Dr. Borous: ''WHAT HORRORS AWAIT THE LOBOTOMITE IN BIG MOUNTAIN!?''''' ... [[RhetoricalQuestionBlunder Really, anyone know? I'm at a loss here.]]
165* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' tends to run up against some pretty weird science and occasionally throws "science" to the wind because it's ''fun'' to have a tiny, furry alien with a tinier RobotBuddy wielding {{BFG}}s against an army of {{Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot}}s.
166[[/folder]]
167
168[[folder:Webcomics]]
169* ''Webcomic/AllOverTheHouse'' veers into this trope almost every time Emily builds a new invention.
170* ''WebComic/GirlGenius'' lives and breathes off this.
171* The simulated "Spacemonauts" segments of ''WebComic/GunnerkriggCourt'' is a loving parody of this trope.
172* ''WebComic/SluggyFreelance'' loves this stuff.
173* Anything Frederick and Doctor Franky create in ''Webcomic/TheLifeOfNobTMouse'' fits this trope well.
174* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive.'' Though ''especially'' anything Tedd makes... or gets his hands on... or breathes on...
175[[/folder]]
176
177[[folder:Web Original]]
178* The Website/SCPFoundation shared universe is this plus {{Horror}}. Particularly notable for deriving quite a bit of said horror by [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructing]] this trope in a CrapsackWorld. In a world where LostTechnology and [[ArtifactOfDoom Artifacts of Doom]] are dug up every time a parking lot gets built, {{Teen Genius}}es build {{Doomsday Device}}s because they [[{{Wangst}} got dumped]], [[TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday the new toy store]] is selling [[TomeOfEldritchLore weird books]], [[TheGamePlaysYou unusual games]], {{Happy Fun Ball}}s and {{Creepy Doll}}s, ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight are all too real, and everyone on the planet is constantly playing SuperpowerRussianRoulette, few artifacts are viewed with as much fear and suspicion as the portal to a universe ''[[RealLife where the rules make sense]]''.
179* Website/{{Fenspace}} basically runs on this trope.
180[[/folder]]
181
182[[folder:Western Animation]]
183* In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'', a distinction is made between real-world everyday science and "Super-Science", the kind of science that can be acquitted to superheroes, supervillains and other speculative science fiction-based parts of the world (advanced robotic technologies, superpower bestowal, mind-control gas, etc.).
184* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' combines this with tropes from more realistic influences.
185* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' is pretty weird with its science... well, more silly than weird, but still.
186[[/folder]]

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