It Runs on Nonsensoleum: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

There's [[Mohs Scale of Sci Fi Hardness|"hard" science fiction]], which adheres only to what is currently known or theorized. There's [[Mohs Scale of Sci Fi Hardness|"soft" science fiction]], which offers little to no explanation beyond "it's a time machine!/ray gun!/clone!, etc". There's [[Techno Babble]], which throws gibberish at you and expects you to give it the benefit of the doubt that it's sound science.

== Anime and Manga ==

* In the ''[[One Piece]]'' manga, author Eiichiro Oda often gives joke reason for things in his question-and-answer column, like how Zoro can [[Talking Is a Free Action|talk]] even when he [[Cutlass Between the Teeth|has a sword in his mouth]] because [[Determinator|his heart allows him to speak]]...

** And Nami's [[Armor-Piercing Slap|Armor-piercing slaps]] [[Amusing Injuries|bruise]] [[Rubber Man|Luffy]] because "She hurts his spirit." Of course anyone with the ability to use haki would also be able to nullify Luffy's [[Buffy-Speak|rubberness]], but by the time this power was introduced, Nami had been slapping around Luffy for years.

** Sanji appears to be picking up the explicit ability to ''kick people pretty''. Literally. As in, during his fight with uber-[[Gonk]] Wanze, he kicks him in the face, turning him temporarily into a Bishounen, and later, does the same (seemingly permanent and much appreciated) to {{spoiler|Duval}}. This means that if this pirate/cook thing doesn't work out for Sanji, he could always become a plastic surgeon. Y'know, without the scalpels and stuff.

== Comic Books ==

* Even by comic book standards, the source of Marvel's Golden Age superhero The Whizzer's powers was pretty ludicrous: an injection of mongoose blood gave him the power to go really fast just like a mongoose does when it's killing a cobra.

* ''"It runs on pure madness!"'' is a principle used quite often in ''[[Shade the Changing Man]]''. Things like Angel Catchers and Time Machines are built from unlikely whirlwinds of parts, arranged in implausible configurations, and powered by Shade's insane faith that they would work. For a time, even Shade's own body was formed and held together with madness.

* According to ''[[Scott Pilgrim]]'' being a <s> vegetarian</s> '''vegan''' apparently gives you [[Psychic Powers]].

 

 

* ''[[The Core]]'', which is scientifically ridiculous from beginning to end, acknowledges this at one point when a character shamefacedly admits that he refers to his secret miracle substance, which not only gets stronger the harder you squeeze it and/or the more you heat it, but generates vast amounts of electricity while doing so, as "[[Unobtainium]]." This is based on an old engineer joke wherein an otherwise perfectly good design turns out to require some material whose tensile strength, melting point, or whatever is higher than that of any known substance, and the spec therefore calls for "Unobtainium."

** The movie provides a detailed explanation of why it is impossible to travel to the Earth's core (heat, pressure, etc). This is followed by the line, "Yes, but what if we ''could''?" Yes, the movie actually says, ''in character-appropriate dialog,'' that the entire rest of the movie is scientific nonsense. It's a sign saying, "[[Willing Suspension of Disbelief|Suspend your disbelief here.]]"

*** And windshields.

* In ''[[The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T]]'', [[Dr. Seuss|Bart Collins]] creates a ''sound absorbing device'' using all the items in his pockets combined with liquid odor eater and a hearing aid, on the theory that if odor eater removes odors, then combining it with a hearing aid (and marbles, and string, matches, a frog, etc.) will remove all sound from a room. [[Deus Ex Nukina|Then it turns out to be Atomic and blows up]]. {{spoiler|It ''is'' [[All Just a Dream]], after all.}}

* [[Mad Scientist|Dr. Forrester]] from ''[[Mystery Science Theatre 3000]]'', his explanation for some of his more implausible inventions? "It would take a scientist to explain it, and I'm just too mad".

** There are also the 'special parts' mentioned in the theme song, used to create the Bots (thus including, among other things, a bowling pin and a gumball machine), which in turn somehow explains why Joel/Mike can't just turn the damn movies off. Later, of course, the same theme tosses an iconic [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade]] over this entire trope: [[MST3K Mantra|"If you're wondering how he eats and breathes/and other science facts/Then repeat to yourself 'It's just a show/I should really just relax'..."]]

** In the Doctor's case, it's not so much comedy (well, okay, it is) as the fact that the audience and the people he's explaining it to don't have a chance of understanding what he's really doing, so he boils it down to terms that would work for a [[Lies to Children|five year-old]].

** Mocked in a fictional Doctor Who scene in [[Extras]]:

== Webcomics ==

* ''[[Scary Go Round|Scary-Go-Round]]'''s Tim Jones built a time machine that was a self-heating teapot with a clock on the side and an electronic eye in the lid. To use it, one simply had to set the clock to your desired time, then turn on the teapot; using the principle that "a watched pot never boils", the water would heat up but never boil. In the process, time would get confused, and reset itself to the nearest timepiece.

** The previous mode of locomotion, the Starslip Drive, worked by inputting the destination and flipping you into an alternate universe where you were already there.

* ''[[B Movie Comic]]'' has a [[Transforming Mecha]] with a traditional air brake, the kind that turns a fall into a pleasant hover two feet above the ground. When its button is pressed, it works by triggering a small explosive charge that propels a massive tungsten bolt. Into what, you ask? Into Isaac Newton's memorial at Westminster Abbey.

 

== Other ==

** One can elaborate this this idea by using a very expensive oriental rug, on the theory that the chance of the toast landing butter side down is directly proportional to the expense of the surface it's dropped over. Additionally, attaching two cats back to back to a driveshaft that falls freely and dropping the entire assembly should result in it spinning in midair indefinitely. Hooking this up to a generator would make The Bi-feline Dynamo.

* Fantasy artist Robin Wood's "Theory of Cat Gravity": The sun has gravity in spades. Cats lie in the sun to absorb gravity. Cats then lie on their owners, using the stored gravity to pin them in place. This is why it's so hard to bring yourself to get up off the couch when a cat is lying on you.

[[Category:Rule of Funny]]

[[Category:It Runs On Nonsensoleum]]