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Headscratchers / The Indian in the Cupboard

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Impossible Toys

  • More Fridge Logic than JBM, but since it's not related to the actual plot I'll put it here - what happens if you put toys representing fictional things into the cupboard? E.g., a toy lightsaber, or a Gorgonite?
    • Lightsabers aren't fictional! They're just ancient technology from a long, long time ago. And maybe Gorgonites are from the future?
      • Gorgonites are obviously from the present, or very close to it. They also happen to be toy-sized, so you'd just end up with a life-sized Gorgonite.
    • It was shown to bring Darth Vader to life in the movie, so it probably would make fictional things real.
    • Based on how it works in the books, (not the movie, apparently) it would probably bring the prop or the actor who was portraying the character at the time.
      • Yeah. If you put a Darth Vader figure in the cupboard, David Prowse or perhaps Bob Anderson would take off the helmet and ask "Where's George?"
      • If you got the exact right Darth Vader figure and good luck finding that. For the vast majority of Vader figures you would just give some guy the BEST COMIC-CON EVER!

When is dead "dead"?

When a person dies in the past, all that is brought forward by the cupboard is a pile of their clothing. When Tommy is first brought forward, he's still alive on his own timeline, but by the time Omri brings him forward a second time, Tommy has been killed in World War I. But on Omri's timeline, Tommy would have been dead for decades regardless. For that matter, Little Bear would have died in the 18th century. How does the cupboard determine what point in a person's timeline they're brought forward from? Would it be possible to bring a person forward from a point before you first brought them forward (for example, could Omri have accidentally brought Little Bear forward from a point in Little Bear's timeline before he met Omri the first time)? Or does the counter start from the first time a person's brought forward to the future and carry on until the end of their natural life?

  • The cupboard appears to run on a variant of San Dimas Time: the 'clock' starts from the first time a person is brought forward in time via the cupboard and then is "always running" in both periods, so to speak. So if you bring someone forward, send them back, and then subsequently bring them forward again, time will have moved forward for both parties so it will be at a point later in the time traveller's timeline from when you last brought them forward.
    • Does that mean that he could get another copy of the WWI Medic figurine and call back Tommy again (though presumably from a different timeline?)
      • It would likely just be someone else.

Prehistoric Animals

  • Plastic dinosaurs are ubiquitous. Would it be possible to bring one back using the cupboard? If so, that would be a truly impressive Time Abyss for the magic of the cupboard to cross. If not, would it summon miniature fossils or fossil casts instead?


Alternative Title(s): Indian In The Cupboard

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