alt title(s): Handwavium; Phlebotinum; Advanced Phlebotinum
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a completely ad-hoc plot device"
"Klingons and Romulans, they pose no threat to us! 'Cause if we find, we're in a bind, we just make some shit up!" —Voltaire,
The USS Make Shit Up
Phlebotinum is the magical substance that may be rubbed on almost anything to cause an effect needed by a plot. Some examples: nanotechnology, magic crystal emanations, pixie dust, a sonic screwdriver. Oh, and
Green Rocks.
CSI and its spinoffs come with gallons of phlebotinum. Their favorite kind appears to be Luminol, the substance that reveals traces of blood by glowing when traces of iron from the blood catalyzes its breakdown. Luminol is real, though.
According to
Joss Whedon, during the DVD commentary for the pilot episode of
Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the term "phlebotinum" originates from David Greenwalt's (a writer and director on
Buffy and later co-creator of
Angel) sudden outburst, "Don't touch the phlebotinum!" apropos of nothing.
A.K.A.
Handwavium,
Phlebotinum. Compare
A Wizard Did It,
Hand Wave,
Its Magic and
Deus Ex Machina.
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