Arbitrary Skepticism: Difference between revisions

** After Yoruichi reveals her true form and Ichigo says he thought she was a cat, she says "Cats don't talk. Use your head a little, Ichigo," implying that she also thinks it's supposed to be impossible and that she's merely an exception due to not being an ''actual'' cat (the nature of her cat transformation is never touched upon).

** Ukitake and Kyoraku are baffled by Lilynette transforming into a gun and, specifically, arguing with Starrk. Both have their own Empathic Weapons, albeit ones which (filler excluded) don't talk so openly.

* ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]'': Touma sees esper powers on a regular basis (including being blasted by lightning frequently) but initially dismisses the idea of magic as nonsense. To him, esper powers at least have a scientific basis. This changes when he sees magic in person. Other science-side characters have varying reactions to magic: some (e.g. Accelerator) realize that it's different from esper powers; others (e.g. Mikoto) remain convinced that it's the result of esper powers and/or technology.

* In the two-part ''[[Kino no Tabi]]'' episode "Coliseum", Hermes tries to tell Kino that a one-off character's dog can talk. Kino's response is "Stop being such a liar." Kino's a traveler. Just on screen, she's seen practically every crazy thing under the sun. Ignoring all that, she's talking to a ''talking motorcycle''. To make this a little bit weirder, everyone in Kino's world seems to think like this. No one is ever surprised when Hermes talks, but a talking dog? No way. And in an odd example of [[Schizo-Tech]], there are plenty of countries with highly advanced technology, including hovercrafts, but apparently no body's ever built a working airplane.

* In ''[[Ah! My Goddess]]'', Sayoko Mishima starts picking up that [[Physical God|Belldandy]] has supernatural powers, but when Belldandy tells Sayoko that she's a goddess, she doesn't believe her and instead assumes that she's a witch. Why exactly she thinks that a witch is more believable than goddess is anybody's guess.

* In ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'' episode five, when discussing strange markings on the school soccer pitch, a random fifth grader states: "Oh come on, there's no such thing as ''crop circles''! What it really was was a ghost. And that dinosaur the principal saw? That was a ghost dinosaur."

* ''[[Bungaku Shoujo]]'': The eponymous Book Girl is a supernatural being who feeds on stories. She doesn't believe in ghosts.

 

* Happens to [[Ace Attorney|Phoenix]] in ''[[Turnabout Storm]]'' after he gets told the reason why lightning only makes the sound when it hits the ground in [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|Equestria]]. He himself is the one that notes how he just pulled this off.

{{quote|'''Phoenix:''' ''(I'm no meteorologist, but I'm pretty sure lightning doesn't work like that. Then again, I keep forgetting I'm in a land full of magical talking ponies who can [[Painting the Frost on Windows|manually change weather]]...)''}}

** Rather ironically, ''his ghost'' shows up in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]''.

* The ''[[Transformers]]'' [[Fan Web Comic]] ''[[Insecticomics]]'':

** [[Flat Earth Atheist]]s Skyfire and Dreadmoon.

 

* ''[[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom]]'', in which Indy encounters magical artifacts, comes before ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'', in which Indy at one point dismisses all superstition involving the Ark of the Covenant. After all he has gone through, you'd think Indiana Jones would at least be a bit more open-minded in ''[[Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]''. Despite previously encountering healing rocks, Nazi-killing golden boxes, and life-saving cups, he still sneers at the prospect of magical telepathic skulls.

* In ''[[The Last Mimzy]]'', the brother has already found a strange cube that deposited several mysterious items, including a strange crystal that makes noise that only he and his sister can see (adults think it looks like a flat rock), a crystalline conch shell that enhances his hearing and teaches him how to command spiders through sound, and a set of stone "spinners" that his sister can spin to create a strange portal that causes her hand to split harmlessly into a million particles. Yet he still refuses to believe that her stuffed rabbit, which also came through the cube, speaks to her, despite it being the one that taught her how to spin the spinners. It takes the mimzy predicting their father's arrival to convince him.

* ''[[Eight Legged Freaks]]''. The conspiracy-believing radio host is unwilling to believe the others' tales of giant killer spiders. This may have been as much him suspecting they were making fun of him, as him actually finding the idea itself unbelievable.

* In ''[[The Haunting of Molly Hartley]]'', Molly's dad simply refuses to believe that a [[Satan]]ic [[Cult]] is coming for his daughter, even though ''he made a [[Deal with the Devil]]'' to save her. And how did he not notice that Molly's {{spoiler|guidance counselor at school was the exact same person who acted as the Devil's agent in the deal}}?

* In ''[[Plan 9 from Outer Space]],'' people encounter flying saucers and a zombie that melts into a skeleton, yet have trouble believing that someone could have risen from the dead to break out of his own grave.

 

== Literature ==

** Hermione, and sometimes Ron, are pretty quick to shoot down Harry's theories about Voldemort's latest schemes. They are pretty far-fetched by wizard standards, but this whole thing started with Harry surviving an unblockable curse that causes instant death which no one has ever found a counter to—when he was an ''infant''. They really ought to think outside the box, there.

* ''[[Discworld]]'':

** Talking trees. Notice that Rincewind here uses a perfectly fine [[Logical Fallacy|logical analysis]], but it fails because the premises aren't true:

{{quote|''"I can't be talking to a tree. If I was talking to a tree I'd be mad, and I'm not mad, so trees can't talk."''}}

** Witches and wizards on the Discworld ''can'' see death (and hear talking dogs). They also interact with gods, oh gods, and demons on a regular basis, but don't believe in them, as this only encourages them.

** Carrot and a few other characters can hear Gaspode, as could anybody he makes an effort in talking to. Plus, at several points in the series, there are statements to the effect of "there's no point believing in what already exists"—such as the space turtle on which the world rests. It's like believing in the postman.

{{quote|'''A Priest:''' But the gods plainly do exist.

'''Dorfl:''' It Is Not Evident.

== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''

** In one meta-incident, a preview for an episode seems to indicate they'd be hunting an ''alien''. Turns out it was just a summoned demon who manifested really high in the sky.

{{quote|'''Xander:'''I still don't get why we had to come here to get info about a killer snot monster.

'''Giles:''' Because it's a ''killer snot monster from outer space!'' ...[[Can't Believe I Said That|I did not say that]]. }}

{{quote|'''Xander:''' ''(sarcastically)'' Hey, maybe he awakened the mummy.

'''Willow:''' Right, and it rose from its tomb.

** Occasionally subverted: When Barclay (a hypochondriac loon) tells Captain Picard that there's something living in the transporter beam, and that he'll stake his career on it, Picard gives him a long look... then tells LaForge to start stripping down the transporter until they find something.

** Similarly, on ''Voyager,'' if things start to get weird, Janeway will first try to rule out clones, time travel, mirror-universe entities, holographic replicas, and all the strange stuff they've previously encountered, as a matter of course. "Weird is part of the job."

* For the first few seasons of ''[[Smallville]]'', Clark Kent ironically believed the ability to fly was impossible. Also, at the end of an episode where Clark battles a [[Wicked Witch]] and her cohorts, when Clark has to explain why the house is trashed, his parents scoff at the idea of magic, even though they've already faced people with superpowers that seem to defy the laws of physics.

* ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'' episode "Helping Hand":

** Twilight Sparkle exhibits symptoms of this character trait in the episodes "Bridle Gossip" and "Feeling Pinkie Keen", in regards to the concept of Curses and Hexes in the former, and Pinkie's ability to foretell the future in the latter. And this is in spite of Twilight Sparkle having magical talents, as do all Unicorn Ponies. Subverted, however, in that such magical powers are seen as a natural talent of Unicorns, having a valid explanation. Also, Twilight Sparkle herself has a far more [[Sufficiently Analyzed Magic|scientific approach to her methods]], rather then relying on mystical-babble.

** Subverted in "Feeling Pinkie Keen," where we can see that Pinkie herself has learned (through her own version of the scientific method) what all of her odd twitches mean, but Twilight Sparkle dismissively ignores it.

* ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'': Frylock once told a scared Meatwad, "there's no such thing as monsters!" despite encountering them on a daily basis and being ''living food items'' themselves.

* Misery from ''[[Ruby Gloom]]'' doesn't believe in monsters, despite regularly hanging out with a [[Dem Bones|a talking skeleton,]] a [[Cyclops]], a two headed guy, and a talking bird.

''(One ghosts sets its sights on her.)''

'''Reporter:''' - but I am willing to keep an open mind! [[Dead Line News| ''(Screams as it chases her offscreen.)'']]}}

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[[Category:Hypocrite]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:No Real Life Examples, Please]]