History Main / ArbitrarySkepticism

* The (excellent, FYI) Creator/RankinBassProductions [[ChristmasSpecial holiday cartoon]] ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' brings this mind-twister to light: the closest thing to an antagonist in the movie, an atheist mouse, lives in a world in which Santa is very real... not a belief in him, but Santa himself. There is no question on this; it's a matter of demonstrable fact... he can be seen, touched, talked to, he has a '''secretary''' who ''answers the phone'' when you call the North Pole. Santa is as real and as important in their society as say Brad Pitt is in ours. The mouse kid says he's a myth. His reason? It's scientifically impossible to do what he does. Put into context, imagine being someone who lives in Metropolis and meeting someone who refuses to believe in Superman because he does things that defy physics... or someone who refuses to believe in Mutants in the Marvel 'verse because what they do is "impossible". It's like that. To be fair though, the thrust of the film is he's a nerd and generally insufferable douche who thinks he's got more brains than he really does, which is to say, none at all.

* The (excellent, FYI) {{Rankin-Bass}} [[ChristmasSpecial holiday cartoon]] ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' brings this mind-twister to light: the closest thing to an antagonist in the movie, an atheist mouse, lives in a world in which Santa is very real... not a belief in him, but Santa himself. There is no question on this; it's a matter of demonstrable fact... he can be seen, touched, talked to, he has a '''secretary''' who ''answers the phone'' when you call the North Pole. Santa is as real and as important in their society as say Brad Pitt is in ours. The mouse kid says he's a myth. His reason? It's scientifically impossible to do what he does. Put into context, imagine being someone who lives in Metropolis and meeting someone who refuses to believe in Superman because he does things that defy physics... or someone who refuses to believe in Mutants in the Marvel 'verse because what they do is "impossible". It's like that. To be fair though, the thrust of the film is he's a nerd and generally insufferable douche who thinks he's got more brains than he really does, which is to say, none at all.

Sometimes this is used to define the extent of the fantasy of the world: for example, letting the viewer know that in ''this'' FantasyKitchenSink, there are no vampires or ghosts, even if there are unicorns. Sometimes characters will discuss this, comparing someone's cynicism about talking bats to their fighting dragons last week. This can cause FridgeLogic; if dragons are a regular and accepted occurrence in the characters' world, then why would they use it as an example to compare with something that doesn't? That would be equivalent to saying "the duck-billed platypus exists, why would you ever be skeptical of unicorns?"

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knidq8QClHw this M&M's commercial]] that makes the holiday rounds. The giant anthropomorphic candies have already been shown interacting fairly well with humans (short of the times said humans [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman want to eat them]]), so why should Santa Claus have been such a skeptic? (Besides symmetrical RuleOfFunny.)

*** This is hardly an example since Enel assumed what was merely a title of "God" and was TouchedByVorlons, the power it gave him and his ego had convinced him he was [[AGodAmI divine]].

* DC Universe characters Bruce Wayne (Franchise/{{Batman}}) and the late Ted Knight (Comicbook/{{Starman}}) claim to be atheists, and Ted has explicitly stated that he doesn't believe in anything supernatural. This is despite having both of them having had regular interactions with magicians, clairvoyants, angels, demons and Norse gods. This could be a question of definition -- sure, there are [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien powerful beings with abilities we don't understand]], but [[FlatEarthAtheist that doesn't necessarily make them actually supernatural or divine]].

** Possibly reasonable- Bruce's Rogues Gallery are more-or-less bog-standard humans. Bruce can't easily counter reality-warping powers (and the combination of reality warping powers with, for example, Joker's insanity) so he leaves such things in the hands of people more capable of handling such things.

* ''DoctorSolar: Man of the Atom'' (the Jim Shooter reboot): Having willed himself back into existence as a godlike being following his death in an experiment that was sabotaged, Dr Phil Solar discovers that one of the anomalies caused by his rebirth has given a bad sci-fi writer named Pickerel the ability to spontaneously create life. After turning himself into electrical impulses and telephoning himself into his SecretKeeper's house:

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', the GCPD are awfully dismissive of Gordon's account of his encounter with Bane and his men in the sewers that he narrowly escaped from. And they still seem dismissive of Gordon's story about a masked man and an army living in the sewers even ''after'' Bane and his men attack the Stock Exchange, an attack in which Bane is clearly seen mask and all leading them. Considering that, in the previous two films in the series, Gotham fell under terrorist attack by an army of ninjas and a man dressed as a clown, it's not particularly outlandish. On the other hand, those events occured in the span of two years, at which time a vigilante who dressed as a bat was also active. Since the last ''8 years'' have been peaceful and Batman has retired, it's possible that the GCPD came to consider those attacks to be isolated incidents.

* Shows up to varying degrees in the ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' series. In the first one, people are skeptical of the idea of ghosts even after the protagonists start doing regular business. Then there's a full-scale ghost attack on the city, followed by the conjuring of a [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever 100-foot marshmallow man]]. Somehow, this manages to convince everyone that the Ghostbusters are ''frauds'', despite the entire city having witnessed these events. A second near-apocalypse in the second film finally casts away any doubt, likely because the Ghostbusters animated the Statue of Liberty to save the day and the ''HMS Titanic'' sailed into port during the ruckus.

** A number of events suggest that [[spoiler: Fatale has it backward. Elphin is definitely a real fairy and when Dr. Impossible faces Mr. Mystic it appears that his magic might be little more than complex illusions.]]

** One memorable scene has Dean explaining to Sam why he doesn't believe in angels (their mother said that angels were watching over them, but she was murdered by a demon), despite hunting demons straight out of Hell on a regular basis. When Sam points out that there's more folklore on angels than any other creature they've fought, Dean says that there's a lot of folklore on unicorns as well. Sam's response? "Wait, there's no such thing as unicorns?" In this same scene, Dean says that there's no God. This is an odd belief given that in this series the name of God and holy water are harmful to demons, and Christian exorcism rituals are effective. (According to the series creator, he just sees the rituals as another example of the hoodoo they regularly run across.) By the end of the episode, Dean is less certain that no higher power is at work. Worse, his atheism has been shaken by the events of the episode [[spoiler:despite the fact that the "angel" in that episode turned out NOT to be an angel]].

*** In "Mr. Monk and the Bad Girlfriend," she appears to be the only person besides Monk to believe that Stottlemeyer's girlfriend is a killer. Monk and Natalie were sent by Stottlemeyer to investigate that murder.

*** Linkara even went so far as to label her the dumbest person in Power Rangers when reviewing the season for his WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers series.

** Pete does this in "3...2...1", laughing at the idea that H.G. Wells could have made a rocket in the 1800s. She immediately points out that he's used a ''time-machine'' she made in the 1800s. He hates her at the time, so he disregards everything she says.

* In the Case Files included with the Collector's Edition of ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', it's noted that Dr. Penelope Young ''refuses'' to believe that the Ratcatcher can actually command rats, and believes he just has a bizarre form of Messiah complex. This is a person who treats inmates including Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, The Mad Hatter, the Scarecrow, and Clayface. Being able to talk to rats is downright ''normal'' compared to the abilities these guys have. Although Hatter and Scarecrow have no real superpowers outside their advanced tech and drugs, and Freeze, Ivy, and Clayface are all the result of accidents, and Freeze's and Ivy's powers are mostly tech or drugs also. So perhaps Dr. Young refuses to believe the Ratcatcher because he lacks any sort ''explanation'' of that power. In the DC universe, 'I built a rat translation device' or 'I have mystical rat powers' or 'I was infused with rat DNA' or 'I spent years studying rat language' makes sense, but 'I can talk to rats because...I was born being able to talk to rats for no reason' still seems oddly improbable. Advice to the Ratcatcher: Make up an origin story. Or move to the Marvel universe and call yourself a 'mutant'.

** Also played with in [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004467 this conversation]] where Karkat scoffs at Kanaya for asking whether magic is real, but then admits that all the stuff Sburb has done for them so far has been magic anyway:

* In the ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' ChristmasEpisode, Brain presents an interesting case. He flat-out tells Pinky that writing a letter to Santa Claus is "silly" and "stupid" and says that he keeps his Christmas spirit "right next to my Bigfoot photos." This despite the fact that he ''knows for a fact'' that Santa exists, because his whole plan to TakeOverTheWorld depends on infiltrating the North Pole and tricking Santa into building and distributing his MindControlDevice toys. He may actually be referring to the notion rather than the logic. He may simply find writing Santa a letter incredibly pointless due to the impracticality rather than futility. To be fair, it's not likely that Pinky and the Brain are on Santa's "Good" list.

** There was one where Franchise/{{Batman}} dismisses the idea of reincarnation as nonsense. However, in Batman's case this is fair, particularly in the DCAU where dead people stay dead. And, quite frankly, [[FridgeBrilliance not believing in something keeps you from being tempted to try it.]]

** He grows out of it by the end of the episode. [[spoiler:After all, if you put a magic helmet on yourself and wind up inside the helmet talking to a guy who's recently died and a [[PowersThatBe Lord of Order]] who's currently possessing your body, wouldn't it be kind of stupid to continue to disbelieve magic?]] He also has no problem with [[CuteWitch Zatanna]] or her father Zatara's magic in later episodes.

*** This is hardly an example since Enel assumed what was merely a title of "God" and was TouchedByVorlons, the power it gave him and his ego had convinced him he was [[AGodAmI literally divine]].

* DC Universe characters Bruce Wayne ({{Batman}}) and the late Ted Knight (Comicbook/{{Starman}}) claim to be atheists, and Ted has explicitly stated that he doesn't believe in anything supernatural. This is despite having both of them having had regular interactions with magicians, clairvoyants, angels, demons and Norse gods. This could be a question of definition -- sure, there are [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien powerful beings with abilities we don't understand]], but [[FlatEarthAtheist that doesn't necessarily make them actually supernatural or divine]].

** Possibly reasonable- Bruce's Rogues Gallery are more-or-less bog-standard humans. Bruce can't easily counter reality-warping powers (not to mention the combination of reality warping powers with, for example, Joker's insanity) so he leaves such things in the hands of people more capable of handling such things.

* ''DoctorSolar: Man of the Atom'' (the Jim Shooter reboot): Having willed himself back into existence as a godlike being following his death in an experiment that was sabotaged, Dr Phil Solar discovers that one of the anomalies caused by his rebirth has given a bad sci-fi writer named Pickerel the ability to spontaneously create life. After turning himself into electrical impulses and literally telephoning himself into his SecretKeeper's house:

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', the GCPD are awfully dismissive of Gordon's account of his encounter with Bane and his men in the sewers that he narrowly escaped from. And they still seem dismissive of Gordon's story about a masked man and an army living in the sewers even ''after'' Bane and his men attack the Stock Exchange, an attack in which Bane is clearly seen mask and all leading them. Considering that, in the previous two films in the series, Gotham fell under terrorist attack by an army of ninjas and a man dressed as a clown, it's not particularly outlandish.
** On the other hand, those events occured in the span of two years, at which time a vigilante who dressed as a bat was also active. Since the last ''8 years'' have been peaceful and even Batman has retired, it's possible that the GCPD came to consider those attacks to be isolated incidents.

* Shows up to varying degrees in the ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' series. In the first one, people are skeptical of the idea of ghosts even after the protagonists start doing regular business. Then there's a full-scale ghost attack on the city, followed by the conjuring of a [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever 100-foot marshmallow man]]. Somehow, this manages to convince pretty much everyone that the Ghostbusters are ''frauds'', despite the entire city having witnessed these events. A second near-apocalypse in the second film finally casts away any doubt, likely because the Ghostbusters animated the Statue of Liberty to save the day and the ''HMS Titanic'' sailed into port during the ruckus.

*** In "Mr. Monk and the Bad Girlfriend," she appears to be the only person besides Monk to believe that Stottlemeyer's girlfriend is a killer. Bear in mind, Monk and Natalie were sent by Stottlemeyer to investigate that murder.

*** Heck, Linkara even went so far as to label her the dumbest person in Power Rangers when reviewing the season for his WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers series.

** Pete does this in "3...2...1", laughing at the idea that H.G. Wells could have made a rocket in the 1800s. She immediately points out that he's used a ''time-machine'' she made in the 1800s. Of course, he pretty much hates her at the time, so he disregards everything she says.

* In the Case Files included with the Collector's Edition of ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', it's noted that Dr. Penelope Young ''refuses'' to believe that the Ratcatcher can actually command rats, and believes he just has a bizarre form of Messiah complex. This is a person who treats inmates including Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, The Mad Hatter, the Scarecrow, and Clayface. Being able to talk to rats is downright ''normal'' compared to the abilities these guys have.
** Although Hatter and Scarecrow have no real superpowers outside their advanced tech and drugs, and Freeze, Ivy, and Clayface are all the result of accidents, and Freeze's and Ivy's powers are mostly tech or drugs also. So perhaps Dr. Young refuses to believe the Ratcatcher because he lacks any sort ''explanation'' of that power. In the DC universe, 'I built a rat translation device' or 'I have mystical rat powers' or 'I was infused with rat DNA' or 'I spent years studying rat language' makes sense, but 'I can talk to rats because...I was born being able to talk to rats for no reason' still seems oddly improbable. Advice to the Ratcatcher: Make up an origin story. Or move to the Marvel universe and call yourself a 'mutant'.

** Also played with in [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004467 this conversation]] where Karkat scoffs at Kanaya for asking whether magic is real, but then admits that all the stuff Sburb has done for them so far has been basically magic anyway:

* In the ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' ChristmasEpisode, Brain presents an interesting case. He flat-out tells Pinky that writing a letter to Santa Claus is "silly" and "stupid" and says that he keeps his Christmas spirit "right next to my Bigfoot photos." This despite the fact that he ''knows for a fact'' that Santa exists, because his whole plan to TakeOverTheWorld depends on infiltrating the North Pole and tricking Santa into building and distributing his MindControlDevice toys. He may actually be referring to the notion rather than the logic. He may simply find writing Santa a letter incredibly pointless due to the impracticality rather than futility.
** To be fair, it's not likely that Pinky and the Brain are on Santa's "Good" list.

** There was one where {{Batman}} dismisses the idea of reincarnation as nonsense. However, in Batman's case this is fair, particularly in the DCAU where dead people stay dead. And, quite frankly, [[FridgeBrilliance not believing in something keeps you from being tempted to try it.]]

** Of course, he grows out of it by the end of the episode. [[spoiler:After all, if you put a magic helmet on yourself and wind up inside the helmet talking to a guy who's recently died and a [[PowersThatBe Lord of Order]] who's currently possessing your body, wouldn't it be kind of stupid to continue to disbelieve magic?]] He also has no problem with [[CuteWitch Zatanna]] or her father Zatara's magic in later episodes.

:: This was clearly meant to be a joke, since Enroth, the realm which Roland rules, sports angels. The "devils" turn to be demon-like aliens.

* Happens to [[VisualNovel/AceAttorney Phoenix]] in ''FanFic/TurnaboutStorm'' after he gets told the reason why lightning only makes the sound when it hits the ground in [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Equestria]]. He himself is the one that [[LampshadeHanging notes how he just pulled this off]].

-->'''Myka''': Maybe it's PaulBunyan's axe? Or [[TheBible King David's slingshot]]?

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Twilight Sparkle is a unicorn with a natural ability to do magic, but she shows skepticism towards [[WrongContextMagic other kinds of magic]] because she knows so much about [[MagicAIsMagicA how magic is supposed to work]]. Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes not.

* In the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse, the Yuuzhan Vong follow a ReligionOfEvil and truly believe the gods that they worship exist. They think The Force isn't real and that the Jedi and Sith are just charlatans. Their unbelief in The Force is helped by the fact that the Yuuzhan Vong are immune to most Force abilities.

*** Rather a fair point. Living on a spaceship doesn't mean their lives are sci-fi, it just means the spaceship isn't.

* In the StarWarsExpandedUniverse, the Yuuzhan Vong follow a ReligionOfEvil and truly believe the gods that they worship exist. They think The Force isn't real and that the Jedi and Sith are just charlatans. Their unbelief in The Force is helped by the fact that the Yuuzhan Vong are immune to most Force abilities.

* ''InDeath'': Eve Dallas, being just a pragmatic soul, could be considered this. She has a hard time believing in the existence of vampires in ''Eternity In Death'', ghosts in ''Haunted In Death'', sensitives in ''Visions In Death'', and supernatural things like in ''Ceremony In Death'' and ''Ritual In Death''. Some supernatural things did occur in some of the books, but Dallas automatically goes with "I don't believe in this!"

** In "Too Many Pinkie Pies" Rainbow Dash dismissed Pinkie's explanation about how she duplicated herself with an eye-roll, despite being a pegasus, a friend with one of the greatest magicians of their time, and having just saved a magical crystal kingdom. Admittedly, this is probably because she just thought [[UnreliableNarrator Pinkie]] was [[CloudCuckooLander being Pinkie.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein}}'', after the mission where BJ receives the Thule Medallion and first learns of the Golden Dawn (a benevolent order of mystics), he can talk to the LaResistance radio operator who claims that the Golden Dawn's leader seeks to "save the world from black magic. Which means he's either insane or an idiot". You could interpret that as BJ keeping the Medallion's powers a secret...if not for the fact that completing the aforementioned mission also causes ''black clad Nazi sorcerers'' to fight openly in the city they are in.

-->'''Frostbite:''' Your central cold reading indicates extreme cold, as if your body is self-generating it. I sensed it within you the last time we met.\\

** Possibly reasonable- Bruce's Rogues Gallery are more-or-less bog-standard humans. Bruce can't easily coutner reality-warping powers. ( Not to mention the combination of reality warping powers with, for example, Joker's insanity.)

** Or, the test was of how Robin would react to having to deal witha threat alone due to being unable to convince someone to help.

** Batman probably doesn't consider aliens to be pure myth, but anal-probing aliens.

* Peter and Olivia on ''{{Fringe}}'' both seem to be pretty dismissive of the idea that God could exist or that any religion has any truth to it, despite the fact that in addition to all the bizarre creatures they've seen and the existence of a parallel universe, they've also witnessed that ''life after death'' is clearly possible.

--->"