History Main / NoOntologicalInertia

There are certain situations in which this can be inherently justified. Computer programs, for example, stop running if their hardware turns off, and may be reset to a default state under certain conditions. Magic usually lacks ontological inertia, [[MagicAIsMagicA under the theory]] that continuous effort has to be applied to work against the natural order, and ceasing that effort will cause things to [[OntologicalInertia snap back to the way they ought to be]]. Sometimes the magic lacks ontological inertia because spells are contracts [[DealWithTheDevil i.e. pacts]] (with the spirits, the gods, demons, etc.), and the death of the contractor voids the contract—like what sometimes happens to currencies when the government issuing them falls. For example; good luck buying things with Confederate dollars in 1866.

There are certain situations in which this can be inherently justified. Computer programs, for example, stop running if their hardware turns off, and may be reset to a default state under certain conditions. Magic usually lacks ontological inertia, [[MagicAIsMagicA under the theory]] that continuous effort has to be applied to work against the natural order, and ceasing that effort will cause things to [[OntologicalInertia snap back to the way they ought to be]]. Sometimes the magic lacks ontological inertia because spells are contracts [[DealWithTheDevil i.e. pacts]] (with the spirits, the gods, demons, etc.), and the death of the contractor voids the contract—like what sometimes happens to currencies when the government issuing them falls, For example, good luck buying things with Confederate dollars in 1866.

There are certain situations in which this can be inherently justified. Computer programs, for example, stop running if their hardware turns off, and may be reset to a default state under certain conditions. Magic usually lacks ontological inertia, [[MagicAIsMagicA under the theory]] that continuous effort has to be applied to work against the natural order, and ceasing that effort will cause things to [[OntologicalInertia snap back to the way they ought to be]]. Sometimes the magic lacks ontological inertia because spells are contracts [[DealWithTheDevil i.e. pacts]] (with the spirits, the gods, demons, etc.), and the death of the contractor voids the contract—like what sometimes happens to currencies when the government issuing them falls, e.g. good luck buying things with Confederate dollars in 1866.

-->-- ''Series/StrangeHillHigh'' "Teacher's Pet"

* Averted in the ''Anime/SpiritedAway'' fanfic Fanfic/TheKamikakushiSaga. The kami from the film remain bound to their contracts with Yubaba, despite her death and the destruction of the bathhouse. Working at Chihiro's onsen allows them to fulfil the terms of said contracts.
* ''Fanfic/StarfallStarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': It's explicitly said that magic fades soon after the caster dies. This is one of the reasons why everyone is so confused at the curse cast to cut off Earth from the rest of the universe. Only Royal magic is strong enough to do that, but the only two Royal magic users left are Star (who wouldn't do that) and her mother Moon (who also wouldn't do that, but died soon after the curse was cast so it would have faded soon after anyway). Of course everyone knows it was Empress Ishtar, but no one can figure out ''how''. [[spoiler:As it turns out, Ishtar is the culmination of breeding twelve of the thirteen lines of Royal magic into one. She has more than enough power to do it. Once she dies, the curse immediately starts to fade, but even decades later it's still not completely gone]].

!!Examples:

OntologicalInertia is the tendency [[BuffySpeak stuff has to continue being stuff]]. Things, in general, keep existing even when we're not looking at them.

** For starstruck creatures, any extensions of themselves will instantly vanish the moment that they're detoxed. This includes [[SelfDuplicating self-duplicating bunny monsters]] and a ManEatingPlant that could turn its petals into bee-shaped {{Attack Drone}}s.

** For starstruck creatures, any extensions of themselves will instantly vanish the moment that they're detoxed. This includes [[MesACrowd duplicating bunny monsters]] and a ManEatingPlant that could turn its petals into bee-shaped {{Attack Drone}}s.

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'':
** Summons follow this rule. See ''[[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2011-05-19 Taurcanis Draco]]".
** Earlier, Fox [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2009-08-18 dissolves]] after [[spoiler: Abraham]] uses a mass sleep spell, knocking out Nanase [[spoiler: so he can kill Ellen]]. The author admits it looks more disturbing than he originally intended.
** On the other hand it is averted with creations of the Dewitchery Diamond. Tedd reads a log of the diamonds original creation, wherein a man cursed with lycanthorphy was separated into himself and a giant wolf-beast; when the man died the wolf still survived. Tedd points out this means if Elliott dies Ellen will be just fine, but this doesn't particularly reassure Elliott.
** Most transformations in the comic are enchantments, which can be dispelled and which wear off after a while if not wanted by the caster. A few transformations, however, actually change someone's "base form" and are thus as permanent as anything else. The difference is occasionally plot-relevant.
** There is no answer to "vampires"/aberrations besides killing them, because they are AlwaysChaoticEvil, the transformation process strips them of any capacity for empathy, and curing them of their condition would kill them. In fact, [[spoiler:this is how Pandora genocides a significant portion of the vampire population: She unleashes a spell that forces every immortal to "cure" every vampire within range]].

* Summons in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' follow this rule. See ''[[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2011-05-19 Taurcanis Draco]]".

** On the other hand it is averted with creations of the Dewitchery Diamond, when Tedd read a log of the diamonds original creation wherein a man cursed with lycanthorphy was separated into himself and a giant wolf-beast when the man died the wolf still survived.Tedd point out this means if Elliott dies Ellen will be just fine, this doesn't particularly reassure Elliott.

** This is why Hemera the Builder became...well, the ''Builder'', rather than use magic to make Mewni Castle. She discovered that any spells cast by someone is dispelled when the user dies, and so if she had used magic to create Mewni Castle wholesale, it would have vanished upon her death.

* One Sunday edition of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' saw the titular twosome engaging in one of their trademark petty arguments in the midst of a meeting of their [[GirlsHaveCooties "anti-girl"]] secret club. While Calvin's head is turned (he's writing a derogatory "law" about Hobbes in the club charter), Hobbes snatches Calvin's "Supreme Dictator Hat" off of his head and proclaims "Now ''I'm'' the Supreme Dictator!" -- as if taking off the Supreme Dictator's hat automatically drains him of his power.

This trope may be considered a NecessaryWeasel in more [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism idealistic works]], as dealing with the damage left behind by the depredations of the BigBad or the MonsterOfTheWeek can turn even the best HappyEnding into a downer as one realizes just exactly how much work the heroes will have to do to put their world back together. See NoEndorHolocaust for the ultimate extreme of this.

** This would have dire consequences in the Dark Ages. Helia the Light of Power gifted fruits grown from the gold and silver trees to her debtors as a pledge of goodwill. When she died suddenly, the fruits turned to ash and the debtors soon came calling on Helia's successor, Celestia, who in her haste to make an endless summer to grow crops to pay the debt quickly, misread it and instead created the EndlessWinter that defined her reign and gave her the name the Queen of Winter.

* [[FairyTale In many European faerie tales]] (and therefore [[LandOfFaerie those fantasies inspired by them]]), fairy enchantment or glamour does not involve physical alteration or manipulation of reality--instead, the fairy reality "overlays" the original, and once that fairy reality is dismissed (the enchantment ends, the glamour vanishes, etc.), then the natural reality is revealed once again. For this reason, in many faerie stories and fairy tales, [[TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf mirrors will reveal a witch's true appearance no matter what form he/she transforms into]], [[GlamourFailure special salves and charms will enable a mortal to see the original reality]], and [[BalefulPolymorph a human enchanted to be a beast]] [[TheShadowKnows will cast a human shadow instead of a beast's shadow]]. Thus, it makes sense that [[ResetButton the fairy reality will vanish the moment the person who cast it has died]].

* {{Inverted}} in ''Theatre/SwanLake''--[[BalefulPolymorph Odette]] warns [[PrinceCharming Siegfried]] not to kill [[EvilSorcerer Von Rothbart]] until the curse is broken, because otherwise it will become permanent. [[ZigZagged Though in some versions]], cutting off his wings will break the spell instead.

** In ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' card game, if a monster has its ATK stat reduced or increased, when that monster is sent to the Graveyard, its ATK stat returns to normal. Even if the exact same monster card (not just by name, but the physical card) returns to the field, its ATK stat will remain normal, unless a card with continuous effect changes its ATK stat again. Similarly, if a monster's effect is negated on the field, when it is sent to the Graveyard, its effect is no longer negated. Even if the exact same monster returns to the field, the effect will not be negated, unless a card with continuous effect negates its effect again.

** In ''Pokemon'' card game, if a Pokemon is defeated, all the Energy cards on it are discarded. Even if the Pokemon returns to the field or your hand, the discarded Energy cards remains discarded.

* Slightly zig-zagged in ''Cinderella.'' The coach, horses, dress, etc., all revert to normal at midnight, except for one (possibly both) glass slipper(s).