Magic A Is Magic A: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:MagicAIsMagicA 7655.png|link=El Goonish Shive|frame|Even [[Supernatural Martial Arts]] is part of this magic system.]]

 

{{quote|''"We don't ask that you stay within the bounds of physics, but at least follow the rules you freaking made up."''|'''[[Cracked.com|Cracked]]''', ''[http://www.cracked.com/article_16625_8-classic-movies-that-got-away-with-gaping-plot-holes.html 8 Classic Movies That Got Away With Gaping Plot Holes]''}}

Consistency itself, too, can be taken too far; or rather, it can be misapplied. It's too common to see rules being "overdone" to the degree that it's their ''spirit'', rather than their letter, which cannot be broken, essentially as if the universe was playing favorites. This is how you get phenomena like [[Plot Armor]]: Saying that no weapon can break through the Armor of White Legend is one thing; having a whole battalion of enemies surround the wearer of this armor and [[Shooting Superman|futilely shoot volley after volley of arrows at them]], without stopping to think of ''any other strategy at all'', is something else entirely.

 

 

This trope derives its name from [[wikipedia:Law of identity|Aristotle's Law of Identity]], which claims that "[[Shaped Like Itself|a thing and itself are the same thing]]" and marks [[Tropes Are Not Bad|an important contribution]] of [[Captain Obvious]] to modern rational discourse. The title references the law's well-known symbolic formulation, "A = A", which is probably due to German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Leibniz.

 

See also [[Minovsky Physics]], which is a fictional physics with extremely detailed laws that makes it look like real physics, as well as the [[Cool of Rule]]. Contrast [[New Rules as the Plot Demands]] and [[How Unscientific]]; also contrast [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]], which is an ''entire category'' of notoriously common [[Video Game]] violations of this trope.

 

* ''[[Read or Die]]'' sets the arbitrary yet consistent rule that only the most skilled paper-manipulators may use paper that gets wet.

* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' never gets into the "nuts and bolts" of how one learns alchemy or gets it to work, but we are shown though repeated example that it requires a great deal of research, practice and the use of [[Geometric Magic|inscribed runes or circles]] to make it happen. There is also the constantly repeated rule of ''[[Equivalent Exchange]],'' that for the alchemist to create something, he or she must destroy something of equal value (in practice, this means just having the necessary raw materials at hand - the act of construction itself doesn't seem to "cost" anything {{spoiler|until it's revealed that ''[[Soylent Green|human souls]]'' are the cost being paid in the anime. In the manga alchemy uses geothermal energy, and the [[Big Bad]] uses souls as a buffer to make alchemy weaker}}. In fact, the author's notes at the beginning of the original manga emphasize that the series was originally intended to showcase a B-movie style version of real-life alchemy, without so much emphasis on the actual science behind it.

* ''[[Code Geass]]'' has Lelouch test out via experiment the constraints of his Geass. The show mostly sticks to the established rules, but does leave vague the duration of a command.

** The duration is "however long it takes to follow the command"; this has created a bit of [[Fan Wank]] as some believe that {{spoiler|the "Live!" Geass on Suzaku means that he will eventually try to become immortal}} despite [[Word of God]] saying it only triggers when {{spoiler|Suzaku is in a potentially fatal situation and tries to give up the will to live.}}

* ''[[Hunter X Hunter]]'' does this with the Nen-system. Going further, while Nen itself has its own rules and limits, specific abilities can also have rules of their own set in place by their creators. Examples of such rules can be placing limitations on how and when an ability can be used. Further, due to the general rules of Nen, setting such limitations can make the actual ability far more powerful. For example, protagonist Kurapika creates powerful attacks with the limits that they can only be used against the Phantom Troupe and he will die if he mis-uses them. These limitations allow him to take on the most physically powerful of his enemies one-on-one without difficulty.

* The rules of [[Immortality]] in ''[[Baccano!]]!'' are made clear cut in episode 7 (and even earlier in the books). The rules in the book are elaborated on a bit more (primarily because at least two immortals have been spending 200 years testing the constraints), but the principles are still the same:

* Magic in ''[[Rivers of London]]'', at least the type practised by human wizards, appears to be exceptionally rules based and its apparent violation of the laws of thermodynamics greatly worries apprentice Peter Grant.

** {{spoiler|But Beverley Brook, a minor river goddess, seems to do magic in an instinctive fashion.}}

* Magic in the [[Inheritance Cycle]] is limited by several strict rules that are generally obeyed as the series goes on, the most important of which is that magic always [[Cast from Hit Points|drains the mage who uses it]], and the bigger the magic, the more [[Life Energy]] is required.

** Magic in general seems to work off of Newtonian physics. Throwing a small pebble at a certain speed requires as much energy as if you did it by hand. Then you have to consider how far away the target you're enchanting is and even the very ''wording'' you're using in the ancient language, all of which can determine how much energy you could spend on a task. This law can get abstract when you're dealing with metaphysical concepts like turning invisible, healing wounds ranging from cuts and bruises to broken bones and birth defects, and amalgamating enough particles of pure gold to be the size of your fist, to the point that experimenting with magic is extremely dangerous because you don't know exactly how much energy it will require, and very well might kill you.

** Except when it doesn't, eg, dragon riders can borrow their dragon's hit points (and dragons have plenty to spare, since they are quite large). As of ''Eldest,'' Eragon learned he could also use the life energy of plants and animals around him. As of ''Brisingr'' mages can also use "Eldunari," which allow you to borrow a ''dead'' dragon's hit points.

** It also seems that what is considered magic by, say, Hobbits, isn't always thought of as such by, say, Elves, which makes explanations difficult and/or unnecessary.

{{quote|"'Are these magic cloaks ?' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder.

** Part of what helps keep the [[Whateley Universe]] canon stories straight is the secret "[[All There in the Manual|Whateley Academy Universe Bible]]" that only canon authors are allowed access to—this lays out every single "rule" for the storyline, canon characters, backstory, etc etc.

*** And, for another one of those 'secrets'...It's not been updated in about three years or so.

* [[The Slender Man Mythos]] is an interesting example; the character is shared between several projects by different groups, and one of the reasons he's so effectively frightful is that the most well-known Slenderblogs and vlogs keep things consistent. There's still wiggle-room for variation without angering the fandom, though: In [[Marble Hornets]], audio and video distortions show up when something bad is about to happen, whereas in [[Everyman HYBRID]], video usually doesn't distort unless Slender Man himself is both in the shot and very close to the camera. In [[Marble Hornets]] and [[Tribe Twelve]], being around Slender Man repeatedly tends to make people physically ill; [[Everyman HYBRID]] seems to be skipping that one.

** Actually, the main cast of [[Everyman HYBRID]] seem to be coughing up blood after each encounter with Slender Man.

* ''[[Chatoyant College]]'': There are strict rules on what can be achieved with each type of magic.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* [[Fairly Oddparents]] has consistent rules for making wishes, except in [[The Movie]] there is a magic muffin that allows a certain amount of unrestricted wishing for those trusted with it. The only wish that can't be made is for the magic muffin to taste better (yeah, the muffin is all powerful, but it tastes horrible).

* ''[[Mighty Max]]'' established how the portal system works that Portal A leads to Portal B and vice-versa. In order to travel the world they need to move through a series of portals to arrive at their destination, almost like a subway train map. In multiple episodes they show that the portal underneath Max's house leads directly to [[Big Bad|Skullmaster's]] cavern, and a portal overhanging a lava waterfall some distance away leads them to Australia, with the nearest portal on foot is 50 miles away.

** Magic A is the obvious magic, unicorn magic. Every unicorn has some limited telekinesis for lifting small objects, plus a suite of spells related to their main talent; ergo, a unicorn whose cutie mark signified a particular skill for baking would have spells for getting dough to rise, batter to come together, what have you. Twilight Sparkle is unique in that her talent is the use and understanding of magic itself, so she can potentially learn any spell.

** Magic B is pegasus magic, mainly cloudwalking and weather control, plus some tactile telekinesis for towing things while in flight.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Applied Phlebotinum]]

[[Category:Consistency]]

[[Category:Magic and Powers]]

[[Category:Urban Fantasy Tropes]]