Basic Trope: A character is given superhuman intelligence, and inexplicably knows many new facts afterward without learning them.
- Straight: Shortly after Bob is zapped with the Intelligence Ray, he proceeds to show expert knowledge of science and technology.
- Exaggerated: Bob knows everything after exposure to the Intelligence Ray.
- Downplayed: Bob is shown to be an expert in science and technology after having done only a small amount of research.
- Justified:
- Bob had learned about science and technology previously, but his new intelligence allowed him to process and remember it.
- The Intelligence Ray transmits knowledge into people's heads, causing them to learn it instantly.
- The mathematical derivation is shown performed by Bob with different variable names (as he didn't learn the conventions).
- Inverted:
- Shortly after Bob is zapped with the Stupidity Ray, he inexplicably forgets one or more things he knew.
- Bob still manages to be a complete idiot with the world's knowledge downloaded into his head, even though he should know better.
- Subverted:
- Bob is zapped with the Intelligence Ray in hopes of making him learn new things. However, he does not have any new knowledge, and has to learn it.
- Bob still needs to perform experiments to learn without references.
- Double Subverted: But then, a few hours later, he seems to be an expert in science and technology.
- Parodied:
- Bob is no smarter nor closer to expertise than before, but becomes a Know-Nothing Know-It-All.
- Every fact Bob learns thanks to the Intelligence Ray is irrelevant or obsolete.
- All advancement is shown as a result of revelation by reaching a critical level of intelligence.
- Zig-Zagged:
- Bob gains knowledge about some things but not others.
- Shortly after Bob is zapped with the Intelligence Ray, he shows expertise in science and technology he did not have before. But then he loses it just as inexplicably and immediately. Then he appears to know his facts again, but they turn out to be wrong, except for the one fact that people needed to know...
- The Intelligence Ray works as advertised on Alice and Bob, but not on Betty and Adam.
- Bob has several encounters with the Intelligence Ray. Each time he's zapped, he learns things he did not know before but forgets things he did.
- Averted: Bob is zapped with the Intelligence Ray but does not seem to learn anything.
- Enforced: The author needs a quick way for Bob to pick up new skills.
- Lampshaded: "Why did he gain knowledge? It's called an 'Intelligence Ray'!" "Don't question it."
- Invoked: Bob has never learned anything about the subject, but he applies to be a test subject for the Intelligence Ray, hoping it will teach the subject to him.
- Exploited: Someone sells the Intelligence Ray and destroys the entire school system.
- Defied:
- Bob is never zapped with the Intelligence Ray.
- Bob knows his science and technology facts because he learned them the old-fashioned way: by reading books and articles and doing experiments.
- Discussed: "It's called an Intelligence Ray, so it might make me know more things." "It won't teach you anything directly, but it might give you the mental power to concentrate long enough to gather more facts and apply those you know."
- Conversed: "It taught Bob everything? That's it, they gave him the Story-Breaker Power."
- Implied: Bob is zapped with the Intelligence Ray, and the immediate effects are not shown. Later, he fixes a computer, even though he showed no knowledge of such before.
- Deconstructed:
- Bob's new knowledge is a jumbled mess because he did not really learn it. At best, he's no smarter than before. At worst, he goes insane.
- Everyone gets an Intelligence Ray instead of going to school. The result is that everyone is very smart, but has No Social Skills or morality, resulting in a broken world of friendless nerds run by an Evil Genius.
- Reconstructed:
- A small amount of schooling is all it takes for Bob to make sense of his new knowledge.
- The Intelligence Ray is patched to transmit ethical and social knowledge as well. The result is that no one can bring themselves to do anything bad, and social skills reach an unprecedented high.
- Played for Drama: À la Flowers for Algernon, Bob's new knowledge alienates him from his friends and family.
- Played for Horror: Bob learns something he wasn't meant to know, causing him to Go Mad from the Revelation.
- Played for Laughs: Bob learns how to tell jokes properly when previously he couldn't, and now he is acclaimed as the funniest person in the room everywhere he goes.
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