Hand Wave: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Nick:''' But wouldn't they blow up in an all-oxygen environment?<br />

 

A Hand Wave (also [[Memetic Mutation|memetically]] called "Scotch Tape") is any flimsy explanation - particularly involving the [[Backstory]], a [[Retcon]], or a use of [[Phlebotinum]] - which is noteworthy for its lack of detail or coherence. It may be used to (try to) hold together an [[Idiot Plot]] or an otherwise outrageous story. Often consists of throwaway lines like "[[Its the Only Way|it's the only way]]." The name comes from academia, initially to refer to where complicated parts of a valid argument are glossed over for the sake of convenience.

 

 

In an adaptation, a Hand Wave can result from [[Adaptation Explanation Extrication]] - the writers removed the back story to a plot element, and then realized that someone needed to say ''something'' about it.

 

See also [[A Wizard Did It]]. Compare and contrast [[Justified Trope]]. A.K.A. Scotch Tape (not to be confused with [[Duct Tape for Everything|Duct Tape]]). May take advantage of the [[MST3K Mantra]]. Often related to an [[Unexplained Recovery]]. Not to be confused with the [[Jedi Mind Trick]], which is often accompanied by a literal hand wave.

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In the book ''[[Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince]]'', in order to travel to a plot-important location, Harry and Dumbledore must sneak out of the school to a completely deserted street in a nearby village, from which they can then [[Teleporters and Transporters|Apparate]]. In [[Harry Potter (Film)|the film]], the following time-saving exchange occurs:

{{quote| '''Dumbledore:''' ''Take my arm.''<br />

'''Dumbledore:''' ''Well… being me has its privileges.'' }}

** A reasonable interpretation would be that he wrote the spells involved, so he left himself a backdoor.

* ''[[Star Trek]]'' is famous for its [[Techno Babble]] "explanations", but sometimes it doesn't even try that hard:

** An early episode of ''[[Star Trek Voyager]]'' has the crew needing to conserve power. Yet they still wanted the characters to play around on the holodeck. So they threw in a line about how it's power systems are self contained and cannot be used by any other system on the ship.

** In "Trials And Tribble-ations", several Deep Space Nine crew members (including Commander Worf) travel back in time to an episode from ''[[Star Trek the Original Series]]''. They remark on the difference in appearance between Worf (with his elaborate makeup and appliances) and the smooth-headed Kirk-era Klingons (with very simple makeup). Worf puts them off, saying, "We do not discuss it with outsiders". Eventually it is [[Retcon|retconned]] in ''[[Star Trek Enterprise]]'' as the result of some earlier botched attempts to create genetically "augmented" Klingons.

** The [[Teleporters and Transporters|transporters]] include a component called a "Heisenberg compensator" as a handwave to get around quantum uncertainty effects. As the page quote attests, Michael Okuda likes getting around questions of how it works by answering, "It works very well, thank you."

** K-9's bout of laryngitis during one story of Who during the 4th Doctor's Era, due to [[Real Life Writes the Plot|the writer of the story personally disliking K-9]]. The Doctor himself was [[Lampshade Hanging|completely bewildered]]. "What do you need it for?"

** The TARDIS is semi-sentient and has long-range telepathic connections with the Doctor (as evidenced by the translation field). Not only that, in the new show the sonic screwdriver is increasingly connected to the TARDIS, to the point of the latter's "regeneration" with the 11th Doctor popping up a new sonic screwdriver in the control panel. Somehow these facts do not turn it into more than a very basic remote control (it can lock\unlock the doors) or ability to summon the TARDIS to the Doctor's current location, whether by flight or materialization.

*** Of course, the Tardis would be far too complex to fly remotely using a screwdriver....

** In Lets Kill Hitler, a {{spoiler|freshly regenerated}} River Song suggests to herself "Maybe I'll dial back the age a bit. Gradually. Just to freak people out." as a handwave for why she appears to be getting older even though her timeline and the Doctor's are reversed.

* In ''[[Babylon Five]]'', one common statement is that [[Ape Shall Never Kill Ape|no Minbari has killed another Minbari]] since Valen's time. But in a season four episode, Marcus challenges Nehroon to a battle to the death under the Minbari ritual of denn'sha. Since Nehroon immediately knows what it is, that implies that the Minbari have been killing each other in formal duels for quite some time, despite this 'Minbari do not kill Minbari' principle. In one of the books they hand wave it by saying that by agreeing to fight a denn'sha duel, you agree to take responsibility for your death on your own hands if you lose. This means that every single Minbari who died in a duel has technically committed suicide, which doesn't count.

* In ''[[The Man From UNCLE|The Man from U.N.C.L.E.]]'', one of the innocents involved in the Affair was concerned that Solo was killing so many enemy agents, he explained that they used "sleep darts" in their guns.

* Parodied in the "Cycling Tour" episode of [[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]. Gulliver and Pither are about to be bayonetted by a group of Russian soldiers. Just as the soldiers charge, a "Scene Missing" slide appears on the screen. Immediately after that, they cut to Gulliver and Pither on a road in Cornwall, with Pither saying, "Phew! What an amazing escape!"

* In Sabrina the teenage witch season 2 episode 16 Zelda pulls a periscope down from the ceiling, when Sabrina rightfully asks "since when do we have a periscope in the kitchen" Hilda replies with "You've lived here two years and you've never noticed it? Teenagers".

* Due to lazy programming in the first two ''[[The Legend of Zelda CDi Games]]'', you interact with all objects in the game world by hitting them with your sword. This also includes the [[NPC|NPCs]] which you can start a conversation with by stabbing them. This is hand-waved in the in-game tutorial:

{{quote| '''Link:''' Luckily I brought my Smart Sword. It won't hurt anyone friendly. In fact, it makes them talk!}}

* Conflicts in the [[Tales Series]] are often justified with these. No good reason for our heroes and the boss to be fighting? Heroes agree? Well, too bad for them, [[Rule of Drama|that's just the way things are]].

* ''Superman 64'' is an odd case of having two different plots before release, and both were handwaves. The games original plot was that Lex Luthor was spreading Kryptonite Fog all over Metropolis, which was clearly a clumsy attempt to explain the game's ridiculous amount of fogging (a common trick used in early 3D games to prevent framerate dips). Later, the story was changed to Lex Luthor trapping Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen in a virtual reality version of Metropolis, which handwaves not only the fogging but every other problem with the game.

Pit: How'd you build a parking lot without hands?<br />

Pandora: Hard work and determination. }}

 

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* ''[[Girl Genius]]'': Agatha builds a "mechanical taxidermist and tailor" in a forest [[Memetic Mutation|without even]] [[Iron Man|a box of scraps]]. How? She completely fails to explain:

{{quote| "''Please.'' I ''always'' carry a Swiss army knife and a coil of wire."}}