History Main / HowUnscientific

* An episode of ''Series/TheGuidingLight'' actually featured a character gaining superpowers after a freak accident with Halloween decorations.

* This reaction, taken to ''extremely'' FanDumb levels (''death threats'' were involved), forced a significant change to ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic III: Armageddon's Blade'': originally the expansion pack was supposed to be centered around a ''science fiction'' faction, the Forge, and the attempts to stop it from taking over the world, but that had to be thrown out and another story quickly come up with. Whether this trope is an accurate reaction is... more complex: the ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' setting was a clear ScienceFantasy one ever since the first game in the parent series (the BigBad Sheltem was a rogue android creation of the Ancients and the world of Varn - Vehicular Astropod Research Nacelle - was actually an artificial environment that was part of a larger spaceship), so looked at from that perspective the Forge was in keeping with genre conventions. The ''[[MorePopularSpinoff Heroes]]'' spinoff series, on the other hand, had previously only loosely alluded to the science fiction elements (the setting of Enroth being a LostColony of the Ancients, the Kreegan "demons" being a HordeOfAlienLocusts) in ways that didn't make clear they ''were'' science fiction elements, so looked at from the perspective of those only familar with ''Heroes'' it was a breach of genre conventions.

* This reaction, taken to ''extremely'' FanDumb levels (''death threats'' were involved), forced a significant change to ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic III: Armageddon's Blade'': originally the expansion pack was supposed to be centered around a ''science fiction'' faction, the Forge, and the attempts to stop it from taking over the world, but that had to be thrown out and another story quickly come up with. Whether this trope is an accurate reaction is... more complex: the ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' setting was a clear ScienceFantasy one ever since the first game in the parent series, so looked at from that perspective the Forge was in keeping with genre conventions. The ''[[MorePopularSpinoff Heroes]]'' spinoff series, on the other hand, had previously only loosely alluded to the science fiction elements (the setting being a LostColony of the Ancients, the Kreegan "demons" being a HordeOfAlienLocusts) in ways that didn't make clear they ''were'' science fiction elements, so looked at from the perspective of those only familar with ''Heroes'' it was a breach of genre conventions.

* ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'' featured two episodes that clashed with the show's otherwise stringent policy of depicting "real life, but with robots:" One with a prehistoric [[{{Kaiju}} giant monster]], and another with a haunted building full of ghosts.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'':

* The ''Series/BabylonFive'' follow-up "The Lost Tales" introduces a demon into what had until then been a fairly hard sci-fi universe (apart from souls and reincarnation being implicitly real). The fans were not pleased.

* The ''Series/BlackMirror'' episode ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorMazeyDay Mazey Day]]'' is about the titular actress becoming a recluse after a mysterious accident while filming a TV series in Europe and a paparazzo trying to get a photograph of her post-reclusion since it will be worth a ton of money. So far, so good. But when Mazey is finally found in person, the twist of the episode turns out to be that she was [[spoiler:bitten by a werewolf and is turning into one. Essentially turning the episode into UrbanFantasy]]. The sudden GenreShift can feel too jarring to be taken seriously since all the other ''Black Mirror'' episodes, even the most experimental ones, remained mostly consistent within the boundaries of the Thriller and Science Fiction genres.

* ''Series/SevenDays'' mostly deals with TimeTravel. Said TimeTravel equipment came from a crashed alien ship; so there's sci-fi. Then there's the episode where the main character stops a nuclear war started by ''{{Satan}}.''

** Granted, this is simply a plot element that was a representation of her mental illness, manifesting as her father. Scream VI dealt with this again, where her medication has subdued her hallucinations.

* That [[WidgetSeries really,]] ''[[WidgetSeries really]]'' [[WidgetSeries weird]] ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' prequel manga. As an example, it's revealed the main character was created by a cult using human and monster DNA, and that the cult intended to use him to control the monster, which responds to an emotion-powered orb in the character's body.

* This reaction, taken to ''extremely'' FanDumb levels (''death threats'' were involved), forced a significant change to ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic III: Armageddon's Blade'': originally the expansion pack was supposed to be centered around a ''science fiction'' faction, the Forge, and the attempts to stop it from taking over the world, but that had to be thrown out and another story quickly come up with. Whether this trope is an accurate reaction is... more complex: the ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' setting was a clear ScienceFantasy one ever since the first game in the parent series, so looked at from that perspective the Forge was in keeping with genre conventions. The ''[[MorePopularSpinoff Heroes]]'' spinoff series, on the other hand, had previously only loosely alluded to the science fiction elements in ways that didn't make clear they ''were'' science fiction elements, so looked at from the perspective of those only familar with ''Heroes'' it was a breach of genre conventions.

** In an official {{Yonkoma}} for ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'', Asuka repeats the line when [[Manga/GiantRobo Alberto the Shockwave]] does the same thing to an [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Angel]], although the former at least fights it to a draw.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'' generally goes for MaybeMagicMaybeMundane but in the episode "Time Will Tell" it seems to go for this involving time travel as the series of events makes no sense without it. Generally [[AgentMulder Castle]] has to try and come up with a rather convoluted series of events in order for it to be possible but yet in this case [[AgentScully Beckett]] couldn't come up with a logical series of events that worked. This is especially true when the supposed time traveler just disappears from lockup. [[spoiler: There was also the ending in which she spills her coffee on a letter that was a key piece of evidence and it matches the stain from a picture of that letter held by the killer.]]

*** However, Beckett still firmly believes the mundane explanation, so it's possible she's just saying that to screw with Castle.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' campaigns can very easily come across this way, due to the extent of the FantasyKitchenSink being somewhat hidden at first. On the surface, at least, the setting of Golarion seems like pretty straightforward Tolkeinian High Fantasy - elves, dwarves, orcs, wizards, gods, demons, all present and correct. The technology level by default doesn't ever exceed muskets and cannon. There's teleportation and interdimensional travel but it's always portrayed in MagiBabble that squares it with the expected parameters of a High Fantasy setting. So it can be a little jarring the first time you find out that Golarion is ''also'' home to some alien lifeforms both organic and robotic that rode in on a crashing spaceship, or that some of the setting's "demigods" are actually very powerful artificial intelligences, or that one of the planets in Golarion's solar system is canonically a [[ThatsNoMoon dormant space station]], or that the planet Earth implicitly exists in the same universe and (thanks to the Public Domain) [[CosmicHorrorReveal actual literal Cthulhu]] is currently asleep beneath its oceans while Literature/BabaYaga conquered a Golorian country for the lols.

** "Tintin in Tibet" reveals that the Yeti really exists.

* In ''ComicStrip/ThePhantom'', TheCowl of the title seems to live in [[ArbitrarySkepticism surprisingly strong denial]] of the weirder side of his LowFantasy world, refusing to admit in the existence of things like aliens or magic when he keeps several monsters (a unicorn, a stegosaurus and a family of primeval humanoids) as pets or his ancestors' journals discuss one ancestor who used magic to regenerate his gouged-out eyeballs.

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' parodies this. The entire show is ridiculous, but it focuses almost entirely on the (physically-possible if really unlikely) exploits of a group of mundane, if wacky, modern-day New Yorkers. But every so often they throw in a one-shot gag about time travel, [[RuleOfFunny just because]]. Possibly explained by the show's FramingDevice being an UnreliableNarrator.

** ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'', another Creator/QuanticDream title, had a cut sub-plot about psychic powers in what was otherwise a very realistic FilmNoir thriller.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' episode "[[Recap/DariaS3E04 Depth Takes a Holiday]]" involves Daria meeting personifications of the holidays asking her to find other missing personifications of them who have run off. Quite different for a show mostly about life in high school. Do yourself a favor and don't bring it up to fans.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': The Great Gazoo is a space alien in a modern stone age setting.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'': Goliath, Elisa Maza, Angela, and Bronx during their world tour arrive on Rapa Nui and run into Nokar, an alien sentinel who was sent by his race to protect Earth from another unmentioned race of aliens. This is a little less weird than it seems, though, as science fiction elements had been in the show from fairly early on, with cybernetics and genetic manipulation having already put in appearances.

* ''Anime/TheMysteriousCitiesOfGold'' is set around the conquistador times, and is about men in search for El Dorado, and cities full of Gold. While their are some semi-mythical elements (such as Esteban being the "Child of the Sun" and that the imperial-age Quechua Nation have fairly sophisticated fantasy-esque technology), it was always kept in the theme of the period and explained in terms of what was available at the time. Then out of nowhere, the aliens are revealed and watching the protagonists on television screens...

* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'': During the first season the stories are strictly SliceOfLife, with some elements exaggerated for laughs. The second season starts introducing overt fantasy storylines, such as a HalloweenEpisode in which Penny [[BecomingTheCostume turns into a real superhero]], and a camping trip into what turns out to be a LostWorld. The BigDamnMovie, which acts as a GrandFinale, has a plot about genetically engineered peanut people, a long way from the mundane plots the series began with.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' was primarily a sci-fi show centered around giant robots. However, there were several occasions where the plot delved into supernatural areas--in one episode they ran into a wizard in the past, in another they dealt with a Quintesson who used magic, and two episodes were devoted to Starscream's [[spoiler: ghost.]]

* ''[[Series/BlackMirror Black Mirror's]]'' episode ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorMazeyDay Mazey Day]]'' is about the titular actress becoming a recluse after a mysterious accident while filming a TV Series in Europe and a papparazo trying to get a photograpy of her post-reclusion since it will worth a ton of money. So far, so good. But when Mazey is finally found in person, the twist of the episode turns out to be that she was [[spoiler:bitten by a werewolf and is turning into one. Essentially turning the episode into UrbanFantasy]]. The sudden GenreShift can feel too jarring to be taken seriously since all the other Black Mirror episodes, even the most experimental ones, remained mostly consistent within the boundaries of the Thriller and Science Fiction genres.

->''"I detest talk of supernatural drivel. I suppose now you'll say she has [[Franchise/StarWars midi-chlorians?]]"''

->''"I detest talk of supernatural drivel. I suppose now you'll say she has midi-chlorians?"''