* ''[[Literature/BlueAvenger The Adventures of Blue Avenger]]'' by Norma Howe argues that this is in play with ContrivedCoincidence. Unlikely coincidences happen all the time, and MillionToOneChance events are pretty common in a world with nearly seven billion people. So why is it "contrived"?
* OlderThanFeudalism: In one of Literature/AesopsFables, a talented clown does impressions for a town, including an "incredibly realistic" pig's squeal. Finally, a farmer in the back shouts that it sounds nothing like a pig. The next day the two have a face-off. The clown gives his squeals, and then the farmer puts his head in his cloak and there is a horrible sound. The crowd jeers and says it's fake... and then the farmer pulls a piglet out of his coat, as he'd been pinching its ear to make it squeal.
* ''Literature/ArlyHanks'': InUniverse at the end of ''O Little Town of Maggody'', when Hammett swipes a bunch of Christmas ornaments to set up a spindly, ragged runt of a holiday tree for Arly. He ''could'' have swiped the perfectly-symmetrical, flawless spruce that the ornaments had been hung on, but because Hammett grew up in a shack on Cotter's Ridge -- a trackless backwoods covered in ''real'' coniferous forests -- he didn't think the farm-raised tree, which had never bent in the wind or suffered a fungal infection or been nibbled by porcupines, looked like a "real" tree at all.
* InUniverse in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl:'' In the fourth book, we're told that the fairies are making a movie about the events of the second book. They decided that the actual terminal where one of the shootouts happened didn't look realistic enough, though, so they added some painted-gray foam dirt and some extra laser burns. Likewise, they took the goblins' shuttle, [[PaintItBlack painted it black]] and added a scary figurehead.
* The book for the German movie ''Sonnenallee'', literally ''Literature/AtTheShorterEndOfSonnenallee'', provides an in-universe example that played the trope straight. When protagonist Micha finds out how his extreme-sporting relative Lutz gets to Mongolia when visas (or rather "invitations") are hard to get, by faking the seal by penciling the relief of a five Tukrig coin, Micha succeeds by this method as well. Unfortunately, when they get a real invitation to Mongolia, the officers reject approval as the seal doesn't look as it's supposed to.
* In the afterword to the ''Literature/BlackWidowers'' short story "Where is He?", Creator/IsaacAsimov states that the story received the most reader complaints, objections, and cries of improbability, but reveals that the events really happened to him as he depicted in the tale.
* ''Literature/BridgeToTerabithia'' was inspired by the childhood friendship of author Creator/KatherinePaterson's son David with a girl named Lisa Hill. But while Lisa [[spoiler:was killed by lightning]], her fictional counterpart, Leslie, [[spoiler:drowns]], which the editor thought would seem more realistic for readers.
* ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'' has two things readers and/or watchers of the film adaptations often bring up:
** Carrie has her first period at age 17, which some people claim is impossible. While it's really rare, it really can start that late, or later (the oldest example on record is a 19-year-old girl). Furthermore, extreme stress and other such conditions can make menstruation start late. Considering [[TheWoobie what Carrie's life is like,]] this may well be the reason in her case.
** The sheer cruelty of the bullies comes across as hard to swallow to some, with some people insisting that while KidsAreCruel, it's hard to believe any bullies could be ''that'' vicious. Unfortunately, they can be, and the story was partly inspired by King's experience as a high school teacher. In ''On Writing'' he even mentions that Carrie is loosely based on a girl at his school who was bullied so bad she was DrivenToSuicide.
* ''Literature/TheCartel'': Don Winslow took the violence to such extremes that some people doubted it. However, Winslow had done years worth of research and violence is still worse in real life.
* The badger society in ''Literature/TheColdMoons'' might seem human-modeled but it's actually based on European badger behavior. Though it's unheard of for badgers to live in groups of 300+, they are social animals who live in small groups and their groups do have a hierarchy system. Badgers are also usually monogamous, so the [[MarriedAnimals badgers being husbands and wives]] isn't humanization. The cleanliness of the badgers is also accurate: They regularly change their soiled bedding and they use communal latrines.
* Simon from the ''Literature/DarkestPowers'' series has blond hair despite being half-Asian. People assume he [[DyeHard bleaches his hair]] however it's natural due to his mother being Swedish. He even gets mad at the suggestion that a boy would dye his hair (though, he [[OldShame admits]] he once did it for a girl). It is quite rare, but someone with Asian parentage can have naturally blond hair.
* [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker German philosopher Oswald Spengler]] commented in his non-fiction book ''Literature/TheDeclineOfTheWest'' that some historical events, like the death of Alexander the Great, seem like they were written by a bad author.
* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Referenced in ''Literature/WyrdSisters''. The witches hide the crown of Lancre (a simple gold coronet) among the prop crowns used by a group of traveling players, and the youngest one, Magrat, comments that the real crown looks out of place among the elaborate and ostentatious fake crowns. As Granny Weatherwax tells her, "Things that try to look like things often look more like things than things. Well known fact."
** An even more specific example of this trope: in ''Literature/MovingPictures'', the movie-set version of Ankh-Morpork used to film ''[[Film/GoneWithTheWind Blown Away]]'' is described as looking more like Ankh-Morpork than the city itself does. The movie-set version, of course, is nothing but painted canvas and plywood nailed to the fronts of crudely-built shacks, which have yet another faux-frontage nailed to their backs.
** Inverted in ''Literature/GuardsGuards'', during a discussion about Carrot's sword, an astoundingly non-magical and weathered (but still very functional) specimen. Sgt. Colon very briefly wonders if old kings' swords weren't really marked by their glinting light or [[AudibleSharpness impressive sounds]], because the kings that were around in the old days wouldn't need something showy, but something that needed to be bloody good at cutting things. In the next City Watch book, ''Literature/MenAtArms'', the sword proves so sharp and durable that Carrot nails a bad guy through his midsection to a stone pillar.
** Referenced in ''Literature/MenAtArms'', that a bloke who could put a sword through a stone would have more right to be king than one who could pull it out. Perhaps he'd be [[TheAce an ace]]. The sword which survives being placed in the stone either plays it completely straight or completely inverts this trope: since everything in the Discworld is permeated with at least a slight background level of magic, anything that is completely unmagical is slightly more real than everything else around it.
** It's mentioned in multiple books, such as ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}},'' that black is actually not the best color to wear for night camoflauge. Vetinari uses other dark colors, such as blues, greens, and browns, when he actually wants to go unseen. The Assassins (not to be confused with mere assassins) wear black because it's stylish. (Also, to be identifiable and give their targets a chance. Otherwise, "everyone would be locked in their rooms with a crossbow pointed at the door.")
* The ''[[Literature/OlogySeries Dragonology]]'' Books by [[PenName Dr. Ernest Drake]] describe several species of dragons as if they were real animals, but doubt the existence of Komodo Dragons.
* In Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/DumaKey'', [[spoiler:Wireman tried to kill himself, blacked out, woke up, and assumed the blood he was lying in was from him falling asleep and injuring himself falling off the chair while he was merely thinking of suicide. He had a headache. He kept on thinking that until he got to the bathroom and saw the hole in his head. He applies a Band-Aid and takes some asprin, and proceeds to spend three days straight at work until he's kicked out.]]
* This trope is pretty much the same as Umberto Eco's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperreality hyperreality]] theories.
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Creator/ArthurCClarke in ''Literature/AFallOfMoondust''; the news company covering the events in the book knows that its audience expects to see stars in space, but because they are too faint to be visible during the lunar day it has a special "stargate" circuit to add them to the picture.
* ''Literature/GoodOmens'':
** Carrot's sword from ''Discworld'' above is possibly referenced in this book, when War has her sword delivered. The narration points out that it's not a fancy magical sword, just one obviously designed to hurt, kill, and maim as many people in as efficient a manner as possible.
** The names Nutter and Device. They sound too appropriate and funny to be real, but both names are not only authentic Lancashire family names, but the names of two of the "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendle_witches Pendle Witches]]", victims of Britain's most famous witch trial. For reference, "Nutter" is an Old English word for "cowherd", and "Device" is pronounced DEH-viss and is just an alternate spelling of "Davis".
* In-story example: in ''Literature/HeroesDie'', Actors' experiences are recorded and played back for others, as if they were on the Adventures themselves. Someone plays one the protagonist's own tapes back for him, only they have turned up a few settings because they want it to seem "realistic".
* In ''Literature/IAmJ'', the protagonist J transfers to a high school aimed at LGBTQ teens. This is actually a real school in New York: Harvey Milk High School.
* Subverted in Creator/StephenFry's ''Literature/TheLiarNovel'', in which the main character finds a body with the throat cut. His first thought is that it doesn't quite look realistic, but then he reasons that he's never seen a real dead body before, and maybe real-life gore actually looks less real than the movie stuff, just like how [[BangBangBANG real-life gunshots don't sound as real as movie ones]]. [[spoiler: Turns out it actually ''was'' fake.]]
* In the novel ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' by Michael Crichton, lead scientist Henry Wu explicitly states he wants to modify the carnivorous dinosaurs to make them more docile. He also says they're too much trouble to feed and keep contained, and people are just expecting the big herbivores anyway (remember, this was before the big 90s dinosaur craze). The owner, John Hammond, declares it's the real thing or nothing. Wu calmly explains that with all the genetic tampering they've already done, the dinosaurs they've made have as much in common with real dinosaurs as they do with dragons. Back then, people were under the impression that dinosaurs were slow, stupid lizards who lumbered around in swamps, which was how he intended to alter them. Now, thanks to that very same book and movie, people are aware that [[ScienceMarchesOn Science Has Marched On]] and no longer think dinosaurs are like that. ''Now'' they don't realize Raptors should have feathers.
* Creator/DennisLehane has run into this a couple times:
** He was once told by one of his editors to tone down the violence of the bad guy in ''Literature/DarknessTakeMyHand'' since it was too "over the top" to which Lehane burst out laughing and explained that his version ''was'' the toned down version, and that the real-life exploits of [[PsychoForHire James "Whitey" Bulger and the Winter Hill Gang]], which he based the bad guys on, were actually far, ''far'' worse. And he should know, seeing as he grew up in the same neighborhood.
** Critics of ''Literature/GoneBabyGone'' focused on the fact that in the story SocialServicesDoesNotExist and criticized him for using it as a plot device... but the thing is that Lehane used to work with ''real'' abused children, so he knows all too well that trope is TruthInTelevision, and several of the stories told in the book by the police assigned to such cases are based on real cases Lehane handled.
** Similarly, after the movie version of ''Film/GoneBabyGone'' came out some Bostonians complained that some of the background characters were [[StopBeingStereotypical too stereotypical]], but said characters were actual residents of the area and were largely allowed to [[ThrowItIn improvise their own dialog]] (to the point that Lehane and Creator/BenAffleck, the director, were unsure if they would take direction or tell them to shove it).
* In Creator/RickRiordan's ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard'' mentions that in universe Thor challenged Jesus to a duel and the latter never showed up. At first glance this just seems like a joke related to the AllMythsAreTrue nature of the series, but it's also a reference to ''Literature/TheIcelandicSagas'' where a similar claim is made to demonstrate Thor's superiority.
* Some people have criticized ''Literature/{{Maurice}}'''s ending as [[TrueArtIsAngsty too unrealistically optimistic]] about the fate of a homosexual interclass romance in [[TheEdwardianEra Edwardian England]], but Forster's inspiration for Maurice and Alec's relationship came from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Carpenter Edward Carpenter]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Merrill_(gay_activist) George Merrill's]] ''non''-tragic real-life relationship. Such relationships were far from common in early 20th century England, of course, but they weren't ''impossible''.
* In ''Literature/OnStrangerTides'', Shandy is taught sailing by pirates, and has to learn how to deploy sails to best effect. He's surprised to learn that the proper position leaves each sail with wrinkles in it, not stretched out smooth as looked "more correct" to his landlubber eyes.
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * Poem [[http://allpoetry.com/poem/8564617-The_Owl-Critic-by-James_Thomas_Fields The Owl-Critic]] is about this trope.
* Some readers think that certain aspects of Creator/{{JoWalton}}'s 'Literature/SmallChange'' series were alternate history inventions. She calls this trope "[[http://archive.li/ihWy#selection-669.0-693.31 The Tiffany Problem]]" and the phenomenon has led to not [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LMr5XTgeyI one]] but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEV9qoup2mQ two]] WebVideo/CGPGrey videos about the history of the name "Tiffany".
--> Tiffany is a real attested medieval name, it's a variant of Theophania, it appears in twelfth century documents from Britain and France, and you cannot give it as a name to a character in a historical or fantasy setting because it looks too horribly modern.
* In ''Literature/{{Timeline}}'' by Michael Crichton, a time-traveler sent back to the UsefulNotes/HundredYearsWar-era France observes knights dueling in full armor to be much faster and agile than he'd imagined. Another character is watching live footage of historical events, which he finds too mundane. UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln "sounds like WesternAnimation/BettyBoop" when delivering the Gettysburg Address and UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington crossing the Delaware "looks like a drowned rat" huddled up in the back of a boat, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware not "heroic".]]
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': Many fans scoff at [[spoiler:Leopardstar's]] death by diabetes, thinking it's overdramatic or silly. However, untreated (and even treated) diabetes can cause serious complications and even lead to death.
* {{Conversed}} by Creator/DavidDrake in the foreword to ''[[Literature/{{RCN}} When the Tide Rises]]''. He comments regarding his having used the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lissa_(1811) 1811 Battle of Lissa]] as [[FantasyConflictCounterpart the basis of the major battle of the book]], that this is not to be confused with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lissa_(1866) 1866 Battle of Lissa]], which was such a farce as to be unusable in fiction: among other things, the Italians somehow forgot to even load shells into their cannons and spent the entire battle shooting blanks.
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