History Main / RealityIsOutToLunch

* Happens in [[IntoTheLookingGlass Manxome Foe]], when the ''Vorpal Blade'''s chaos drive interacted with the chaos-based shield of a giant derelict, producing a bizarre effect the crew dubbed "the {{anime}} zone". Mostly it involved massive {{flanderization}} of the appearance of the ship and crew, as well as the crew's personalities.

** Not to mention [[{{MindScrew}} horrid fish storming out of the sky, the highest prime number hiding itself forever, flying horses carrying reinforced railings, huge children bouncing along the Southend seafront, a million-gallon vat of custard, a team of seven three-foot high market analysists, and an infinite number of monkeys who appear to have written]] ''{{Hamlet}}''.

** Although it's suggested by the other characters that, if she were made aware of her powers, she would be [[PhysicalGod nigh-omnipotent]] and capable of controlling all of reality at will.

** Well, no, it's explicitly stated that Sidhe is the closest to reality you can get without being in, you know, actual reality as normal humans know it. What's implied is that this is also the ninety-degrees-to-reality equivalent to physical distance (ie getting to Hell, Heaven, or, say, Chaunzoggoroth's pad is harder than just getting to the part of the Nevernever where the fairies chill).

** The Nevernever isn't as bizarre as the first poster makes it sound. It's simply a catch-all place for many or even ''all'' different types of magical worlds, in which some parts correspond well to Faerie Land, other parts match the afterlife (or at least, they match the memories of individual ghosts), other parts fit the description of dreamland, and so on. Harry says that gunpowder doesn't work in some places, but we've never directly seen it and as far as we know he hasn't either. "Dying in the wrong place" only matters for Faerie Queens themselves. In brief, it has rules, they just aren't the same as in our world.

* In CaptainBritain, the [[RealityWarper reality-warping]] Mad Jim Jasper's brief but nightmarish rule over Britain resulted in this; had the Fury not stopped him, it would have spread not only to the rest of the world, but to the entire multiverse.

* China Mieville's {{Bas-Lag cycle}} has the Cacotopic Stain, an area of desert (well, it's desert ''now'') which is completely consumed by a Torque storm, and Suroch where New Crobuzon dropped a "torque bomb" in a past war. The way they're described, they're part nuclear wasteland, part half-opened door to the abyss.

* One episode of EdEddNEddy involves the gang [[BLAMEpisode breaking reality to see how it works.]] Among other things, Eddy eats the sun, steals Jimmy's outline (turning the lad into a puddle of goo), and removes Sarah's mouth. Ed creates an interdimensional hole into the Kanker's bathroom.

--> "Well, you see, I never studied Law!"

* The ''TeenTitans'' episode "Fractured" features the inter-dimensional imp Larry, whose "magic finger" can bend the rules of reality. So, naturally, when he breaks his finger reality gets broken along with it. This includes making an entire city look like it was drawn in crayon, Starfire's head growing wings and flying away from her body, and mouths becoming easily detachable from people's bodies.

** Similarly, the knack in flying lies in throwing yourself at the ground and missing. While flying, you must remember never to ''think'' about flying, otherwise the laws of physics will notice you and demand to know what the hell you think you're doing, at which point you'll hit the ground hard.

* Any RealityWarper object resident at the SCPFoundation.

As far as we know, reality is pretty much fixed. We don't randomly sprout limbs, float into the air, or turn into foot stools. Not so here. There is an area, or at least a circumstance, of the setting that throws the laws of physics in the air and plays merry hell with the established rules of reality. This is not always as funny as it sounds; remember, the same laws of reality that keep your friend from spontaneously turning into a camel are also the same laws of reality that keep your lungs on the ''inside'' of your body. As such, regular exposure is not recommended, as you may get... [[BodyHorror altered]].

* The nameless town that serves as the setting for ''{{Pathologic}}'' [[{{Understatement}} isn't]] [[WorldGoneMad very sane]] to begin with. And the general [[PsychologicalHorror nightmarishness]] of the whole place only [[ItGotWorse gets worse]] by each day...

* In [[{{stalker}} S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl]] and its sequels, the titular power plant exudes... weirdness. Especially during a blowout, which (aside from all the potentially fatal radiation) REALLY tends to mess things up. Just for example, you might be walking along a perfectly normal mutant-infested swamp only to have gravity suddenly crush you into the group, possibly fatally. And that's a rather mild example.
* The haunted tunnels in {{Metro2033}} are swarming with ghosts and every so often, a blue ball of energy tears down certain tunnels and litterally kills anything that moves.

* One episode of EdEddNEddy involves the gang breaking reality to see how it works. Among other things, Eddy eats the sun, steals Jimmy's outline (turning the lad into a puddle of goo), and removes Sarah's mouth. Ed creates an interdimensional hole into the Kanker's bathroom.

*** Basically, particles can use the Uncertainty Principle to fudge their mass for an instant, split into two or more particles with a slightly larger mass than the original, and then merge again once the universe notices. (Apparently, this goes on constantly, so many particles have little clouds of hypothetically-extant particles surrounding them at all times.)
** Also, according to scientists; the first microsecond of the Big Bang; the rules ''had'' to be different than they are now. If this is true; that makes gathering information via the empirical method pointless.
*** Actually, you have to go back much further than a microsecond; try maybe ~10^-30 seconds after the Big Bang; and by "different" you mean "a different aspect of an as-of-now unknown theory of which our currently-known physics is an aspect." It's not so much that the rules changed, but that we don't know what the more fundamental rule is.

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* Any RealityWarper object resident at the SCPFoundation.
* Expressly commented on ThisVeryWiki regarding ''DeadFantasy'' and its characters tendency to get PunchedAcrossTheRoom:
-->''Tifa and Hitomi even preform double knockdowns on each other this way. The laws of physics must be out to lunch.''
--->''They're too busy watching.''

* Several places in the WhateleyUniverse, including the Dreamscape where Sara Waite has to fight The Kellith to the death [[spoiler: even though they are the same person]], or Gothmog's domain, or even the dimension where the demon '''BKCRMWDJVG''' comes from.

Sample conditions of a place where reality is out to lunch include AlienGeometries (constant relation [[YourHeadASplode between skull volume and its surface]] is a good thing to have) and [[YearInsideHourOutside time dilation]]. PerspectiveMagic is another common trick. A RealityWarper has this as a superpower. Related to HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace, only the place in question isn't necessarily used for travel purposes. See also EldritchLocation, where this often happens, and WorldOfChaos for when the effect is so widespread it makes up the whole of existence. Fairly common, or at least not out of the ordinary, in SurrealHorror.

-->--''[=~The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy~=]''

->'''Arthur:''' ''"Ford... I think I'm a sofa..."''\\
'''Ford:''' ''"I know how you feel."''
-->--[=H2G2=] The Movie

-->--[=HG2G=] The Movie

-->--[=H2G2=] The Movie

* The original AD&D module "Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits" included a table of random RealityIsOutToLunch events that can occur while the heroes are exploring Lolth's spider-ship, due to the inherent chaos of the Abyss.

* China Mieville's {{Bas-Lag cycle}} has the Cacotopic Stain, an area of desert (well, it's desert ''now'') where New Crobuzon dropped a "torque bomb" in a past war. The way it's described, it's part nuclear wasteland, part half-opened door to the abyss.

Sample conditions of a place where reality is out to lunch include AlienGeometries (constant relation [[YourHeadASplode between skull volume and its surface]] is a good thing to have) and [[YearInsideHourOutside time dilation]]. PerspectiveMagic is another common trick. A RealityWarper has this as a superpower. Related to HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace, only the place in question isn't necessarily used for travel purposes. See also EldritchLocation, where this often happens, and WorldOfChaos for when the effect is so widespread it makes up the whole of existence.