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alt title(s): Wizard Did It 
Tycho explains.
Frink: "Yes, over here, [...] in Episode BF12, you were battling barbarians while riding a winged Appaloosa, yet in the very next scene, my dear, you're clearly atop a winged Arabian! Please do explain it! Lucy Lawless: Uh, yeah, well, whenever you notice something like that... a wizard did it. Frink: Yes, alright, yes, in episode AG04-" Lucy Lawless: Wizard! - The Simpsons, "Treehouse of Horror X"
The standard all-encompassing explanation for any continuity errors noticed by hardcore fans of any given fantasy show. (If it doesn't make sense, A Wizard Did It. Move on, nothing to see here.)
Can be used to Hand Wave away minor nitpicks and Contrived Coincidences that should really be covered by Willing Suspension Of Disbelief. However, using it to excuse major Plot Holes that the creators really should've caught beforehand will make people angry at you.
Contrast Bellisarios Maxim, MST3K Mantra, Doing In The Wizard, All Just A Dream. See also Plot Sensitive Items.
Examples
Anime and Manga
- Neon Genesis Evangelion, to no surprise: For starters, one episode demonstrates that the Unobtainium of which the Evangelions are constructed changes its density for dramatic effect; in episode 8, Asuka can stand her Humongous Mecha on the decks of ships without crushing or punching through them, yet in another episode it's so dense that it sinks into molten rock, which is so dense that non-molten rock floats on its surface, even when it's wearing a special suit (the mech, not just he pilot) that is presumably not solid. Of course, given that the Evangelions also change size for dramatic effect, this is far from the oddest thing the audience is asked to accept.
- Suzumiya Haruhi: any inconsistencies, contrivances, or really just anything could be explained with "Haruhi did it", or Kyon being an Unreliable Narrator.
- Similar to the Haruhi example above, Princess Tutu can Hand Wave anything just by claiming Drosselmeyer did it.
- In Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Spiral Energy can justify pretty much anything as long as it's awesome.
- Hell, this applies to pretty much any green, glowing thing in Super Robot anime, going all the way back to Getter Rays and also including G-Stone Energy.
- The G-Stone is soft enough science, but when THE POWER comes up, just... just don't question anything orange. It won't get you anywhere.
- Recently Hayate The Combat Butler have explained Hayate's amazing endurance and Tama's ability to talk as the result of magic; among other factors.
- In the 3D Background Explanations Corner of the Mahou Sensei Negima volumes, whenever Ken Akamatsu notes that something is off, like how the external shots of Eva's home doesn't match the internal shots, he'd mention with his tongue firmly in cheek that it's probably due to magic screwing up its physical dimensions or something similar.
Comic Books
- DC Comics used an in-character plot device in the Infinite Crisis miniseries to justify various RetCons and mistakes. "Superboy punch!" is now the standard response among fandom to questions about inconsistencies; this replaces the refrain of "Hypertime!", contributed by a previous miniseries, The Kingdom.
- People acting out of character these days is blamed on Deathstroke's mind altering drugs, primarily because this was the canon (via Retcon) explanation for Cassandra Cain Batgirl's poorly executed Face Heel Turn after Infinite Crisis.
- "Deathstroke's drugs" are the DC equivalent of Marvels "Skrull imposter".
- With the recent Spider Man event "One More Day", Marvel Editor In Chief Joe Quesada's official explanation for how Peter Parker's "marriage for Aunt May's life" deal with the devil brought back both his webslingers and Harry Osborn was "It's magic. We don't have to explain it."
- And the Scarlet Witch apparently had the power to "subconsciously" alter reality the whole time, and that too has been used by some writers as a gloss-over explanation for continuity failures.
- The most irritating part of all of that is people like Doctor Strange, who knows more about magic than anyone alive, stating in recent comics that magic is a form of science.
- But apparently not "Human science". According to the mini series The Oath, once something has been discovered by Human science, Dr. Strange can no longer reproduce its effect. Thus, everything Dr. Strange does lacks scientific explanation. If you could explain it, he wouldn't be able to do it. Forget Sorcerer Supreme, he is the "Wizard That Did It."
- Science but not as we know it. Reed could do the finger motions needed for the spells but the magical mojo didn't actually happen until Reed admitted there's some parts about reality (magic) he does not understand.
- Due to the Secret Invasion revelation that Skrulls have been impersonating heroes, running around as extra copies of the heroes (particularly ones of Wolverine), brainwashed into thinking like the heroes, brainwashed into thinking that they are the heroes, are actually heroes who happen to also be Skrulls, and that now at least one of the Skrull impersonators has been replaced by another Skrull, the explanation that any character seen as being out of character or using their powers in ways they can't is really a Skrull has become pretty popular.
- And don't forget 'It was an out of control DOOMBOT' to explain any Doctor Doom story a writer does not like.
- Someone even had the theory that we have NEVER seen the real Doom. It's been ALL Doombots all along!
- Nick Fury's always a robot, too.
- Thanos lookalikes are often used in the same manner. After Squirrel Girl (hilariously) defeats him and Uatu states that it is definitely the real Thanos, it's later revealed that Thanos can create lookalikes which can fool even Uatu.
- A writer of "Marvel Zombies" pretty much Handwaved everything in the series, by saying that it was another universe, and thus justified any inconsistencies it had with that of the Earth-616 universe. (i.e. Reed Richards being evil and Galactus having an actual, physical body that the zombies can eat)
- In Marvel, if all else fails - blame Wanda or the Russians.
- This explanation is used in Runaways, when several members of the Pride go to remove pages of the Abstract which document their decision to betray and murder the rest of the group. One of the Hayes parents wonders why their actions weren't recorded in the book from day one (before they even planned it), since the Abstract documents the past, present, and future. One of the Dean parents replies "It's magic, mutant. Don't think about it too hard, your head will explode".
- "A Nazi wizard did it" is pretty how Marvel explained Captain America's recent return from the dead.
Film
- In Star Wars, especially the Expanded Universe, the Force, in addition to giving selected characters their "magical" abilities, seems to double as a convenient way to explain away plot holes or especially unbelievable plot devices.
- This makes certain scenes extra humorous. For instance, when the Big Bad of Knights Of The Old Republic II explains her hatred of the Force, it basically translates to a burning desire to kill the writers a la Excel Saga.
- In Labyrinth, near the end of the Magic Dance sequence baby Toby is facing the viewer while held by Jareth. When the scene cuts to a long-shot, Jareth throws baby Toby into the air and Toby spins to face him. Then, he throws baby Toby even higher while Toby is still facing him, to be caught by one of the goblins - however, when the goblin catches Toby, Toby is once again facing the viewer, even though he fell while facing the opposite direction. Clearly, Jareth's magical goblin wizardry was at work here.
Literature
- Older Than Steam example: in Don Quixote, whether his beloved Dulcinea appears to be a garlic-chewing peasant, or our hero is transported from his inn chamber to fight a giant (who is actually a passel of wineskins hung above his bed), Don Quixote believes it is due to malevolent enchanters. This doesn't quite count as an example, as the text makes it clear that there is no magic occurring and Don Quixote is quite deluded when he believes such things. The book is trying to make fun of earlier books that used this trope.
- In the Discworld novel Thief of Time, most of the inconsistencies and ambiguities in the Discworld timeline (as well as some of the Schizo Tech) are implied to be the result of the first Glass Clock, or side effects of the History Monks cleaning up afterwards. They describe how they moved "excess time" to where it wouldn't be noticed (such as deep in the ocean) and likewise moved time from such places when required. The fact that most characters fail to notice the inconsistencies (like, for example, Ankh-Morpork having a 16th century Shakespearean theater across the river from a 19th century opera house, and the same characters appearing in two books set nearly a century apart) is explained by the fact that most people only notice what they expect to notice.
- Terry Pratchett has declared that all timelines are correct, but some went down different legs of the "Trousers of Time." He's also phrased it as, "There are no continuity errors in the Discworld novels. There are, however, alternate pasts."
- Also in Discworld: since the Disc itself is so magical, and magic is heavily studied and fairly understood, they don't use magic to explain the inexplicable, instead they say it must have been quantum. Pyramids for example is packed with these: "By the way, contrary to popular opinion pyramids don't sharpen razor blades. They just take them back to when they weren't blunt. It's probably because of quantum."
- Xanth retconned its considerable continuity errors in one book, where it's revealed that the expanding "Region of Madness" has caused odd fluctuations in people's magical talents. For example, at one time the Gorgon could only turn men into stone with her gaze; later her powers worked on women as well.
- Word Of God is that Tales Of MU is a fantasy series because the author finds "It's magic!" to be a more satisfying Hand Wave than pseudoscience. This also shows up in her space opera series Void Dogs, which uses magic for artificial gravity and faster-than-light travel.
Live Action TV
- Lost: when you don't understand what's happening, just tell yourself: "the island did it".
- Kryten used this phrase when answering "The 10 Most Asked Red Dwarf Questions" in the Smeg Ups outtakes collection.
- Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Living in Sunnydale (which is on top of a Hellmouth) is a convenient explanation for many aspects of the show which would be ludicrous or impossible otherwise.
- Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report on the death of Don Herbert (Watch Mr. Wizard):
But what I liked most about Mr. Wizard was that he found a middle ground between faith and science: magic. To this day, when my children ask me how something scientific works, I reply "A wizard does it."
- How is that all five of the Final Five managed to survive the Cylon destruction of the Twelve Colonies in Battlestar Galactica? Along with an admiral whose family had history with the creator of the Cylons? And the Colonials and Cylons converge on the Algae Planet and in the Ionian Nebula despite the size of the universe? No doubt the higher power that doesn't like to be called "God" is responsible. Lampshaded in the Final Five and Algae Planet cases.
Tabletop Games
- In Warhammer 40000 if something is off, it can easily be explained in-universe as being because the Warp did it. If not the Warp, then the C'Tan did it. If not the C'Tan, then the Eldar did it. (Being the wizards who did it is their hat.) If not the Eldar, then the God-Emperor of Man did it. If none of the above did it, it was certainly Commissar Sebastian Yarrick's fault. And even if any, all, or none of the above did it, Tzeentch either did it, arranged it, opposed it, or helped it, and in most cases, he did all of that at the same time.
- Heck, Tzeentch did it in normal Warhammer, too. He's been working carefully for ~40 000 years and it still doesn't make any damn sense.
- Don't forget "the Tyranids ate it". Deep-fried Squat, anyone?
- Most of the more bizarre content in Spelljammer is explained by A Wizard Did It. Sometimes literally. One sourcebook actually explains the sheer weirdness of the setting with "It's magic, and it knows it's magic."
- Many bizarre, inexplicable, or just plain silly monsters from the early days of D&D were said to be the product of wizards playing Evilutionary Biologist in their spare time. Even gnolls were initially reputed to be the result of A Wizard Did It.
- It becomes slightly more meta in fourth edition: many bizarre, inexplicable, or just plain silly rules are said to be the product of Wizards Of The Coast who did it. The current version requires heavy Hand Waving or the MST 3 K Mantra to ignore the many rules that were written for the sake of balance rather than for making sense. Common examples of things that are possible in spite of common sense include using mind control on mindless constructs, stabbing a skeleton in a vital organ, tripping a slime, and so forth.
Video Games
- Seen often in the Resident Evil video game series, but replace "wizard" with "Albert Wesker".
- Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles actually explains HOW he did some of the more wizardy things. And for those things the wizard did to HIM, well, Birkin did it.
- Also appears in the Metroid games, specifically in the Prime subseries, in which the radioactive Phazon is used by fans to explain away multiple inconsistencies and completely random evolutions.
- In the other games, however, the Chozo did it.
- A mutant of this has become a meme among the players of the MMORPG City Of Heroes: "If it doesn't make sense, it's a Nemesis Plot." Nemesis himself is a supervillain who is infamous for making plots within plots within plots and is revealed to be a driving force, or at least the root cause, of many of the conflicts going on in the game.
- Or, as the loading screens now lampshade this: "Everything is a Nemesis plot." Also on loading screens: "Not everything is a Nemesis plot."
- Also, as you enter the Ancient Rome zone Cimerora, you're greeted by a Midnight Club member who tells you that as you went back in time, several spells were cast on you so that you could communicate with the Cimerorans and use your cell phone to call people back in Paragon City.
- The contacts Crimson and Indigo, who's missions deal with the black ops Malta Group, will often tell you that you need to go somewhere for a mission to save someone or something, but the reasons why this needs to be done are classified, so they can't tell you why. They can take three paragraphs to say this too.
- The two common explanations for the many inconsistencies that reside in the Touhou Universe and backstory are either that Keine ate it, or that Yukari was messing around with the borders of space and time again.
- The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall allowed the player to choose one of several endings with supposedly world-changing effects. This left the developers in a sticky place when it came time for the sequel, TES 3: Morrowind, so they invented a supernatural disaster, "The Warp in the West", in which all the endings to Daggerfall had happened at once.
- Oddly enough, this led to endings which contradicted one another occurring simultaneously. Mannimarco, the first Lich, both succeeded and didn't succeed in making himself a god, meaning he has a divine incarnation and a mortal (but undead) avatar at the same time. Of course, the Dragon Break (as it was also called) also makes the ending where the player character is crushed to death in a meaningless happenstance true as well.
- In Metal Gear Solid 4 nanotechnology is used to explain the origins of many thing, including Vamp's various powers.
- Any bizarre or unexplained happenstance in Melty Blood is either due to Satsuki's Arc or "Tatari's Influence."
- In Gear Head, a mining mech is discovered in an abandoned subsurface mine that's otherwise human-scale. When asked about it, Word Of God responded: "Because it's an enormous scifi megaproject and a wizard did it."
- In Assassins Creed, any instances of strange behaviour, anachronisms other than those required for the plot or Gameplay And Story Segregation are the result of what you see being artificially generated by the Animus.
- This is essentially the argument of the witches in Umineko No Naku Koro Ni - they don't have to explain how the murders were committed because they can just say "the culprit used magic".
- This was (the tongue-in-cheek) explanation for the Vanguard improbable charge attack in Mass Effect 2.
- This was the explanation behind how the soldiers fourth unlockable "weapon", the Gunboats, work.
Introducing the Gunboats, secondary-slot boots that reduce rocket jump damage by a huge amount, rendering stairs forever useless. What is the science behind these miracles of technology? Magic, probably.
- In The Battle For Wesnoth, one campaign taking place in the distant future of the setting features a second sun in the sky. Evidently a Genre Savvy Mage did it: Mages are lawful creatures, and lawful creatures do more damage during the day. This led to the unfortunate side effect of the whole planet going desert.
Web Comics
Web Original
Western Animation
- Trope name comes from Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess)'s guest appearance on The Simpsons in 1999.
- In the Transformers mythos, it's Vector Prime's job to keep the timelines stable, so presumably any nitpicks are things he just didn't get to soon enough in relative time.
- Also, in Transformers: Cybertron, the death of Unicron, resulting in the Unicron Singularity, is used to explain inconsistencies in the timeline. After all, when you kill a dark god, you really ought to expect something to happen to the fabric of the universe.
- This is no doubt to cover up the fact that in the original Japanese series Armada, Energon (Super Link) and Cybetron (Galaxy Force) are all entirely separate time-lines which have absolutely nothing to do with each other.
- Not only that, due to the multiversal nature of the Transformers continuities, the Unicron Singularity can be used to explain away every inconsistency and plot-hole in every Transformers continuity EVER.
- Said by name in The Sword In The Stone by Merlin.
Other
- The French have a phrase to express it : "Ta gueule, c'est magique" (Shut up, that's magical). It's often shortened to TGCM or TGM.
- Spoofed by the Onion: Sci-Fi Writer Attributes Everything Mysterious To 'Quantum Flux'.
- All-purpose historical fiction variant: want to write a historical piece in the early 20th century with a single piece of incongruous sci-fi tech? Nikola Tesla Invented It.
- Also used in The Prestige.
- Similar equivalents for other fields/time periods include Leonardo Da Vinci and Charles Babbage.
- Creationists have a habit of invoking this trope when asked to explain something for which they reject the scientific explanation. Questioners with a scientific background will find their answer of "God did it" to be most unsatisfying.
- Pretty much this phrase was used to spoof the "intelligent design" hypothesis in this.
- In this lecture, the speaker makes note of this kind of phenomenon whenever scientific findings are not given a proper theoretical explanation. The phrase "a wizard did it" is actually uttered multiple times to portray this.
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