History Main / ReversePolarity

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* Lampshaded in Series/DoctorWho FanFic Webcomic Fanfic/The10Doctors.
-->3: Perhaps if we reverse the polarity of--
-->2: Oh, that's your answer to everything!

* In ''The Avengers'', the phrase "reverse the polarity" is used by Tony Stark in a ''technically accurate'' context - Stark is giving Captain America instructions to slow down a running motor and (as discussed above), reversing the polarity on a basic DC motor will revers the direction of its rotation, which has the immediate effect of slowing its motion.

* AtomicRobo's solution for sending the Vampires back to the Vampire Dimension is to reverse polarity on the experiment that accidentally brought them into our world. Unfortunately, he finds that the machine does not have a "reverse" option. Robo considers this almost criminally negligent with the sort of ludicrous science they get up to at Tesladyne, and declares that the feature is to be strict company policy from then on. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshade, thou art hung.]]

** The {{Yu-Gi-Oh Card Game}} has a similar card: ''Rainbow Life''.

* ''{{Apollo 13}}'': Justified. Shortly before re-entry they needed "four more amps" to power up the Command Module. They used a circuit intended to provide power from the Command Module to the Lunar Module to do the opposite.

--->'''{{SFDebris}}''': I mean, I mean it's got "Inverse" in there! It's the opposite of it! The neutron radiation probably makes it work even ''better'' than before!

* SPI's ''TabletopGame/{{Universe}}''. When a psionic navigator wants to have their ship make a hyperjump they concentrate on their destination and encode their though patterns on a plate of magnetic monopoles. This reverses the polarity of the monopoles and causes the ship to jump to the chosen destination.

[[folder:Radio]]
* Lampshaded nicely in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' BBC Radio drama ''The Ghosts of N-Space'', in which the Brigadier jokingly suggests that the (Third) Doctor "Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow", to which the Doctor replies that the Brig knows as well as he does that the phrase is meaningless.
* The ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' radio play "Lost Souls" plays this trope entirely straight, with the world saved from disaster by reversing the polarity of the positron flow. CERN apparently approved the science, and the impression is the writer was delighted to have found a context where the phrase ''actually made sense''.
[[/folder]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Toon}}'' supplement ''Tooniversal Tour Guide''. In the Atomic Monster Theater chapter, Professor Doug Graves can reverse the polarity of his portable razor and create a vibration to drive a Giant Potato Bug back into its cave.

* In ''YoungFrankenstein'', Frederick reads from his [[DoctorFrankenstein grandfather's]] book ''[[FictionalDocument How I Did It]]'':

* ''[[DefenseOfTheAncients Dota 2]]'' has a literal Reverse Polarity spell, which sucks opponents in and stuns them. This spell is used by a nonmagical rhino warrior from a tribal society. How or why Magnus can "alter the properties of matter" is not explained.

* AtomicRobo's solution for sending the Vampires back the Vampire Dimension is to reverse polarity. Shockingly, the experiment that brought them into our world does not have a "reverse" option, causing Robo to declare that the feature is to be strict company policy from then on. Lampshade, thou art hung.

* In ''{{Emergency}}'', there is a factory worker with his arm caught in a feeding hopper of a machine and Dr. Brackett is rushing over to have it amputated to save his life. However while he is en route, the paramedics come up with a better idea: they work with the factory's engineers and rewire the machine to make the hopper work in reverse to free the worker instead. Just as Dr. Brackett arrives, the modification is finished and they are able to free him instantly.

* Subverted in ''{{Runaways}}'': Victor Mancha (who is being held captive by the aforementioned group) attempts to escape by threatening Gertrude York with a ''remote'' that has had its "polarity reversed". The other Runaways scoff at the idea.

[[folder:Videogames]]

* In ''{Fringe}'', a wormhole device had its polarity reversed.

* In ''Fringe'', a wormhole device had its polarity reversed.

** No. They inverted their shield polarity, which caused the missiles to lose the lock and miss the ship.