Deus Ex Machina/Quotes

"I've been suddenly rescued by some force utterly outside of the context of this narrative! How... unsatisfying."

—Billy Dare, Tom the Dancing Bug

"I mean, come on! Time travel?! What kind of Deus Ex Machina bulls@#! is that?!"

—Yami Bakura, Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series, lampshading the use of this trope during the fifth season of Lost.

"You can't just throw stuff like this into the story out of nowhere! Where's the foreshadowing?!"

—Chisame, Mahou Sensei Negima

"Who says Deus Ex Machina is an outdated plot device?"

—Captain Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager

"Oh lord, hear our prayer...HELP!!!!" (God's hand appears to help him and Richie)

—Eddie Hitler, Bottom

"It's one of the bigger cop-outs in epiphany history."

—The Nostalgia Chick, on the end of Dragonheart

"Doctor Who stories are resolved by a Time Lord who emerges from a Time Machine - they're ALL deus ex machina."

—Steven Moffat, Doctor Who head writer [1]

"This particular blunder is known as deus ex machina, which is French for "Are you fucking kidding me?"

—How Not to Write A Novel

"This trope is often considered bad storytelling, especially if it comes completely out of nowhere. It’s just too convenient and anticlimactic. Audiences want to see the protagonists win, but they also want to see them earn their victory.
On the other hand, the protagonists would much prefer the convenient and anticlimactic option. Unfortunately for them, they don’t get to vote, because "all problems are solved instantly" makes for a boring story."

—player_3 on Deus Ex Machina, game message for Run 3

"Deus ex machina?"

"I'd rather negotiate with the Bangers than try to wrangle help out of the narrator."

—Schlock Mercenary

Back to Deus Ex Machina