Magic-Powered Pseudoscience: Difference between revisions

Not to be confused with [[Magic From Technology]], where the technology is merely [[Clarke's Third Law|sufficiently advanced]].

 

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

 

== Comic Books ==

* The Silver Samurai of [[Marvel Comics]] was introduced with a sword that can [[Absurdly Sharp Blade|cut anything]]. Turns out he's a [[Mutants|Mutant]] and that's his power; even a toy sword would work just as well for him.

* Something similar was done at Marvel for the Molecule Man, who could originally control and rearrange molecules only with his wand. It was [[retcon]]ned that he is using his own power and just thought he was using the wand.

 

== Literature ==

* In ''[[Wild Cards]]'', Jetman and several other Aces can invent wondrous machines that only work for them, because they're just an expression of their superhuman abilities. It's mentioned in one book that when researchers cracked open the choice device of a "tech Ace," they found only schematics and apple cores.

* [[Aaron Allston]]'s ''[[Galatea in 2-D]]'' has artists that are able to magically pull items out of their paintings into the real world, but they find that they're no more able to reverse-engineer a science fictional raygun than they are a fantastical magic wand. One artist mentions that trying to go a step removed doesn't work either - painting a super-genius to invent a real-world cure for cancer would result in him producing magical elixiers that were merely dressed up in the trappings of science.

* In Lisanne Norman's [[Sholan Alliance]], it turns out that Vartra was using his own telepathic abilities (unwittingly) to mutate DNA, which was why only his experiments resulted in more powerful telepaths.

 

* In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' Warren's inventions (androids, mind control devices, etc.) only work because of the Hellmouth's power.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' settings that bothers to include any ''[[Magitek]]'' tend to play with this, one way or another.

** In the ''Hollow World'' (sub-setting of ''[[Mystara]]''), the Blacklore elves believe their technology is for real, but it's actually magic and will stop working if removed from their native valley. The Immortals, who preserved the Blacklore culture from extinction, set it up this way so the elves couldn't export their technology to any ''other'' preserved culture.

* [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate|Dr. Stratos]]' [[Weather Control Machine]] in ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]''. When he finds this out, he jumps from [[Magic Feather]] to [[A God Am I]].

* Many of the devices built by the Mega-Intelligent Novas of ''[[Trinity Universe (game)|Aberrant]]'' operate at least partly on the inventor's subconscious manipulation of Quantum. Many can be reproduced and continue to operate without attention from their creators, but they all eventually fail spectacularly.

 

== Video Games ==

* Mecha-Hisui in ''[[Melty Blood]]'' is a [[Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids|Heavily-Armed]] [[Robot Maid]] in ''[[Melty Blood]]''. She was created by Kohaku, under the influence of the [[Reality Warper|Tatari.]] Regardless, it is ''extremely'' unlikely this is the traditional robotics. Should one play as Mecha-Hisui against a certain mage end-boss, she refers to her as a "Magic Doll."

* This is the most likely explanation for the Collapse in ''[[Dreamfall]]'', the sequel to ''[[The Longest Journey]]''. After the end of the first game, most advanced technology, such as anti-gravity and FTL travel, failed in Stark, forcing people to go back to older, more reliable, technology. Since this is when the new Guardian took control of the Balance that directs the flows of magic and science, it can be assumed that this advanced technology was, in fact, unknowingly powered by magic. The unusually high number of crashes involving anti-gravity in ''The Longest Journey'' also seems to confirm this possibility, as magic is inherently chaotic. When the magic disappeared from Stark, technology now had to deal with pure science.

* This is basically how "magic" works in the ''[[Ultima]]'' games. The methods of casting spells may differ from game to game, partly because some were set hundreds of years apart or in entirely different worlds (and sometimes multiple worlds in one game), but [[Functional Magic|it's all about the pseudoscience]] and the Big Bad's plot and how to defeat them is almost always based on [[Magic A Is Magic A|figuring out which Magic A to use]]. In addition to your typical "Magic Scientist" wizard, most of the settings also had "Healer" characters who didn't study magic full-time but specialized in the spells that fixed what ailed others.

** Depending on the needs of the plot, in Ultima continuity "Ether" is either general Applied Phlebotinum or [[The Force]]. Spellcasters don't have an "Ether" rating but casting spells drains their personal store of [[mana]], which comes from the [[wikipedia:Luminiferous aether|ether]]. Usually there's spells you can get just from playing through the game, which rely on the game rules, as well as rituals specifically created for the plot of each game for both the good guys and the bad guys to use, which rely on more plot-driven rules than game mechanics.

 

== Real Life ==

* The field of parapsychology known as Psychotronics is based around developing electronic devices that help psychics and espers use their powers more effectively. Early on, it was discovered that if you left out the electronics and just included a picture of the circuit board, the devices worked just as well! (In retrospect, that should have been a tip-off.)

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:Stock Super Powers]]