Magic A Is Magic A: Difference between revisions
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{{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]''}}
Works heavy on speculative elements, such as [[Science Fiction]] and [[Fantasy]], often have [[Phlebotinum|an assortment of fantastic intangibles]] we cannot even dream of encountering in [[Real Life]]—yet act in a completely consistent way, as if governed by imaginary rules of physics.
Or at least, they do, if the writer knows what he's doing. No matter how fantastic the events in a piece of fiction, their [[Internal Consistency]] is what makes or breaks the [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]]. You can have the tech guy of [[La Résistance]] [[Techno Babble|explain in oblique terms involving the word "nano"]] why the [[Evil Empire]]'s fairy dust superweapon needs an hour to recharge after activation, and the audience will nod its collective head and smile; but if you later have that superweapon fire twice in succession, you just made a [[Plot Hole]] and they'll all be at your throat.
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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.
It's possible to break consistency without damaging the [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]]. It takes work- basically, the work of making a believable case that the violation did not happen out of nowhere. [[Lampshade Hanging|One way is to have the characters themselves notice the inconsistency]]; this only reinforces that it ''is'' unusual and there might be an [[All There in the Manual|explanation for it somewhere]]. If none ever ends up being offered, at least it relegates a glaring [[Plot Hole]] to mere [[Fridge Logic]]. After all, if Magic is [[Sufficiently Analyzed Magic|actually like]] [[Fantastic Science|science]], then the theory will likely be wrong sometimes and will have to be revised in the same way
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.
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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.
{{examples|The following works exemplify internal consistency in their magic systems:}}
== Anime
* ''[[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.
* ''[[Death Note]]'': This is one of the central tropes of the series, with Light Yagami pushing each of the rules for using the eponymous Death Note to its breaking point, while his adversary L uses every clue available to determine the limits of "Kira's" powers. Some of the rules themselves are written out in an explicit, detailed manner in the first episode; others are puzzled out over time, and shown briefly in [[Eyecatch]] segments; a full list is [http://deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/The_Rules_of_Death_Note here].
**
** When [[The Simpsons]] comic book did a parody of it, they got rid of the rule which forbade setting up impossible/implausible
* ''[[Ranma ½]]'' [[Involuntary Shapeshifting|magical transformations]] have a set of basic if very generalized rules to purposely avoid complicated minutiae ("I don't think about it, and [[Bellisario's Maxim|neither should you!]]") despite [[Fan Wank|whatever fans say]].
* [[Nasuverse|Nasu Kinoko]]'s works have a nasty habit of setting up incredibly complex and detailed rules about [[The Verse]]... then having a character with some really rare ability break those rules. Of course, only that character alone can ever do it (and probably not more than once), otherwise it's completely consistent.
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* ''[[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.}}
* For all the magic and curses flying around in ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'' and ''[[
* ''[[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:
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* In ''[[Majokko Tsukune-chan]]'', the [[Cute Witch]] heroine explains that while she can reverse her magic spells, she can't reverse any collateral damage that results from said spells. Since this is a [[Gag Series]], [[Hilarity Ensues]].
* A certain middle school class in ''[[Another]]'' must deal year after year with a curse that will potentially kill members of the class and/or their immediate loved ones. This goes on for ''twenty-five'' years, more than long enough to determine many of the rules that govern the curse. For instance, the curse only takes effect with the school's town. The one time a death appears to be an exception the actual cause of death was an injury that occurred before they even left.
== Comic Books ==
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* Subverted in Matt Wagner's ''Mage'' arc; in ''The Hero Discovered'', Kevin Matchstick's mentor Mirth told him that "Magic is Green." Subsequently, Kevin's various magic feats are invariably depicted in a greenish hue. In the sequel, ''The Hero Defined'', Wally Utt ( {{spoiler|a different face of Mirth}}) said that Kevin was taught "Magic is Green" so he could visualize magic more easily. As Utt revealed, "Magic isn't any color. Magic ''is'' color!"
== Fan Works ==
* A growing plot point in ''[[Drunkard's Walk]]'' is the Unified Theory of Magic developed in Douglas Sangnoir's home timeline after decades of investigation by a combined team of mages and physicists. It purports to be the underlying core reality of magic as well as explaining how dozens of often contradictory magical traditions can all work. Some of its rules have been touched on in the various installments of the story, and some even have a theorized basis in quantum mechanics.
== Film - Animated ==
* Disney's version of ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' puts rules on genie magic. They can't kill anyone, force someone to fall in love, or bring people back from the dead ([[Came Back Wrong|"It's not a pretty picture; I don't like doing it!!!"]]). Genie doesn't mention it at first, but also eventually adds that they can't use their magic to serve themselves.
** The [[Animated Series]] added that mixing different kinds of magic is a bad idea, because it produces unpredictable results. This is used as a reason why Genie can't just undo any magic used by villains. It's also hinted that lamp-bound genies are more powerful than free ones, presumably because the bound ones have wishes to grant.
== Film - Live Action ==
* Richard Donner directed the first ''[[Superman (film)|Superman]]'' movie using the word "verisimilitude" as the production motto in scripting and crafting the film. They devoted a lot of their effort to figuring out how to have things make sense within the ludicrous framework of the premise and plot. Why doesn't Superman solve all the world's problems? Jor-El's dialogue explains (piecemeal) that there is an intergalactic law not to interfere in the course of another planet's history, this rule having been put into place as the result of the early history of "the twelve known galaxies" being rife with warfare due to interference (presumably resulting in stringent vigilance for that sort of thing now, creating the potential for the intergalactic equivalent of an international incident). He is already bending the rules just being Superman in the first place. If the name "Superman" was invented by the media, why is there an S-logo on the outfit? The fancy traditional attire of Kryptonians included family crests in a chest insignia, and the symbol on the seal of Jor-El's clan coincidentally happens to look somewhat like an S. And so on.
** One of Donner's criticisms of Richard Lester's ''Superman II'' was that it gave Superman a variety of powers that he'd never had before, including teleporting, telekinetic beams and, well, [[
* In ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers]]'', one of the implied consistencies (enforced by [[Michael Bay]]) is that the robots don't do any of the "[[Hammerspace|mass shifting]]" that has permeated all of the prior incarnations. The Robots have to fit inside their vehicle modes, no more and no less. This resulted in Optimus being a larger semi-truck model to allow for a bigger robot and the largest robot in the first movie, the huge helicopter Blackout, had a hulking robot form. They figured by keeping consistent with that, they could manage the (more difficult to accept) mass shifting of the [[MacGuffin|All Spark]] because it was used as something special and not as a generic power of all the robots.
* In ''[[The Last Airbender]]'', M. Night Shyamalan changed a significant aspect of Firebending so that it aligned better with the other bending arts. In the show, Firebenders could create their own fire, but for the movie, they are now required to have a fire SOURCE to manipulate. [[Elemental Baggage|As he said, Katara needed a bag of water and Toph needed to be touching the earth, so why don't firebenders need fire?]] And much like how Katara learned bloodbending and Toph learned metalbending, master Firebenders are able to find a source of energy from their chi and create their own fire anyway.
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** But note there are other forms of magic—Perrin's wolf powers, Min's viewings, Hurin's sniffing—that don't fit within the rules and confuse the "normal magic" users. Not to mention the whole Horn of Valere thing.
** It's further complicated by the fact that the setting is full of [[Lost Technology]], [[Poor Communication Kills]] and [[Culture Clash]]es, and is set [[After the End|after multiple different apocalypses]]. When something weird pops up, it's anyone's guess whether it seems completely impossible to the current viewpoint character but would be well-known and understood by someone from another country, was commonplace during the Age of Legends and has been forgotten by the present day, or has truly never been seen before by anyone in the world since the last Third Age.
* [[Brandon Sanderson
* One-upping that, the "magic" in Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's ''[[Death Gate]]'' series ''is'' (pseudo)science, complete with a [[Techno Babble]]—filled appendix describing how all of it works.
* The Endowment magic system from [[The Runelords]] books is very much Magic A Is Magic A. Internally-consistent and thought out rigorously well, it was actually one of the inspirations behind Sanderson's ideas for the Mistborn books.
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* 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.}}
* [[The Edge Chronicles]]: Cold rock rises, hot rock sinks.
* 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
** 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.
* The Rules of Magic (or how it works) are seldom explained in [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' - the lore and magical words are well outside the ken of the hobbits. Even people who ought to know (such as Elrond) express some ambivalence on the potential effects of, say, destroying the Ring. Still, this doesn't stop fans from getting into debates about whether the Nazgul wore their Rings or if Sauron had them on his person.
** 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.
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** If you exist twice in the same time, you'll die. It's called shadowing yourself. You can't cross your own shadow and live.
* The ''[[Alex Verus]]'' series has a fairly definite set of rules for the powers the mages can use. The author even has a series of articles on his website called the [http://benedictjacka.co.uk/encyclopaedia/ Encyclopaedia Arcana] talking about it.
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
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== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''
* The [[Psychic Powers|Expanded Psionics Handbook]] in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' has no less than two sets of alternative rules for running a "Psionics are just different" game - either making them 100% independent of magic (so spell resistance, Dispel Magic and so forth don't work on them), or making them about 45% independent (so you need to make a caster level check to use Dispel Magic on a psionic effect, and your power resistance is 10 lower than your spell resistance). The default (and balanced) setting is the are interchangeable for such purposes and [[Forgotten Realms|at least 1 setting]] has psionics as explicitly a separate type of magic.▼
**
*** Which of course gets rather head-scratchy in some of the official worlds such as Dragonlance, where Arcane magic is totally separate from Divine magic, and yet still comes from gods, and you get it by worshiping them.▼
*** The entire arcane/divine split is just a convenient [[Hand Wave]] to keep wizards in particular from (a) wearing armor and (b) using healing magic (both of which Bards, also arcane casters, do just fine), both purely for purposes of game balance. It's probably [[Bellisario's Maxim|best not to try to read much more into it]] than that.
*** The fluff regarding the difference between Divine and Arcane magic varies by setting, but one ''very'' common tendency is that divine magic requires one to act as one's faith would have it (or at least to be able to convince oneself of that), whereas arcane magic have no such compunctions - that highly religious, saintly wizard can one day wake up and decide to become a [[Complete Monster]] for his own sake rather than for any god, and it would not impact his ability to cast magic in the slightest.
▲**** Which of course gets rather head-scratchy in some of the official worlds such as Dragonlance, where Arcane magic is totally separate from Divine magic, and yet still
** In earlier editions, psionics did not interact with magic. The system was a completely bolted-on addition which barely fit the rest of the game and could be horribly broken when a wizard or paladin, no matter how powerful, was just as vulnerable to a 2nd level psionic character as a peasant. Additionally, the rules for psychic powers required ability score checks against variables and had their own, separate, entirely different mechanic for psychic combat. Defenses against psionics for non-psionicists barely existed. Gaming groups often would rather forget psionicists existed than deal with the headaches you get from averting this trope.▼
** Which leads us to [[Psychic Powers]]. Which were [[Redheaded Stepchild]], in part because of ''not'' having good enough mechanics from step one, and the later versions bending it in every possible way trying to fix the previous bends. So, here's what ''not'' to do:
*** In its earliest form (''Eldritch Wizardry'' to AD&D1) psionics did not interact with magic. Also there was a completely separate, entirely different mechanic for psychic combat.
▲***
*** PO / ''[[Dark Sun]]'' v.2 system (MTHAC) "solved" it, but managed to remove advantages of having it at all, while making mechanics nonsensical, and [[Obvious Beta|simply not working as written]].
▲***
* There are three set rules for magic in ''[[Exalted]]'': "No time travel", "Once Exalted, you cannot Un-Exalt."<ref>Elaborating: Un-Exalting results in death, no exceptions.</ref> and "No resurrections." Of course, this being ''Exalted'', those rules exist mostly for Solar Circle Sorcerers to kick them in the nuts and steal their lunch money, but you will never see official Charms or Spells from White Wolf that allow you to break those rules. Bend, maybe. Break, no.
** It should be noted that the 'no unexalting' rule has found some limited exceptions. It assumes that on a mystical level, the Exalt remains fundamentally human. Green Sun Princes who 'ascend' to full Primordial status with Heresy charms find their Exaltation flitting off to find a new host (not that they need it at that point). Likewise, Exalts who chose to take up a job offer to divinity extended via Greater Sidereal Astrology find their Exaltation moving on once they become Gods. It should be noted that in both of these cases, the exception is allowed because the action of releasing the Exaltation is a choice, and cannot be driven by any supernatural or unnatural compulsion at all else the powers fail to work. The more precise law would have to be "Exaltation cannot be taken away from Exalts, ever".
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** '''Adepts''' are limited to one type of magic; this can be casting spells (sorcerers), summoning spirits (conjurers), or enhancing the capabilities of their own bodies ("Phys-Ads").
** '''Magicians''' can both cast spells and summon spirits. The exact style and trappings of each magician's talents varies from one practitioner to the next, but the two most common catchall terms are [[Hermetic Magic|hermetic mages]] and [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|shamans]]. It should be noted that, despite the names, there's no arcane/divine magic split; anyone capable of sorcery can learn and use any spell.
* The indie superpowered-sleuth system ''Mutant City Blues'' elevates this to new heights. Sure, there are mutants in the setting, and they can fly, shoot assorted kinds of energy bolts, read minds and even steal each other's powers. All these powers, however, are meticulously catalogued in the so-called Quade Diagram which provides solid insight about what powers can concievably coexist in a person. Some, like supernatural analytical abilities and remote control of electronic devices, are very *close* so that the person posessing one can be routinely assumed to posess another. Others, say, the ability to fly and become invisible, are so far apart in the chart that it is impossible for one man to have both (without breaking the setting and/or having Infinite Experience Points). This diagram, along with more conventional investigative methods, makes the task of solving "Heightened" crimes more of a usual analytical exercise and almost none of the "whoever got more control of The Force" challenge common for less defined supernatural settings.
* [[GURPS]] Thaumatology is a sourcebook dedicated entirely to making up bizarre, yet internally consistent, magic systems. GURPS ''also'' has a completely separate system for "psionics," which can be the same exact force as magic, but which are administered in the form of traits specific to a given character, rather than general rules that all magic users have to follow. That's where you go for [[Wrong-Context Magic]].
* ''[[Warhammer
** ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]'' has a more detailed system that has most people drawing on a collective library of spells, though Lizardmen, Chaos, Undead, Orcs and Goblins, High Elves, and Dark Elves all have access to an extra group of spells.
* In ''[[Ars Magica]]'', wizards can do virtually anything, but every spell they case must be formed by combining, basically, constructing a Latin sentence consisting of one of five "techniques" (the verbs, all with the subject "I") and one of ten "forms" (the direct objects). For example, throwing bolts of flame would be "Creo Ignem" ("I create fire"), while making someone forget something would be a "Perdo Mentem" spell ("I destroy the mind"). Every wizard has varying levels of ability with each form and technique which determine how powerful of an effect they can generate (someone with a high score in Creo is good at making things in general; someone with a high score in Mentem is good at working with people's minds in general; someone with high scores in both Creo and Mentem would be extremely good at putting thoughts in other people's heads). Each edition of the game also has a few hard-and-fast rules beyond the verb/object format, such as it being impossible to raise the dead or travel back in time, although whether those things are literally impossible or simply unknown or forbidden to members of the Order of Hermes (the organization player character magi are assumed to belong to) is generally unclear (by design).
** ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]'' (which draws from ''[[Ars Magica]]'' to some extent) and ''[[Mage: The Awakening]]'' have spheres that work like the "mind" side, and can also be combined (e.g. Correspondence + Mind to mess with someone's head from a distance). ''[[Changeling: The Dreaming]]'' uses a two-factor system (along the lines of "the mind of a human" or "the mind of another fae"), as does ''[[Geist: The Sin Eaters]]'' (where a Key determines general dominion and power source and a Manifestation determines what you can do with it).
* ''[[World Tree RPG]]'' uses a noun/verb system (7 and 12 of each), but lets several of each be combined in one spell. Eg. a life-extension spell involves "Sustain/Body+Mind+Spirit". And that's the standard "pattern magic", one of several systems the main races know, each with known rules. The trope is played straight in that the rules exist, but subverted in that ultimately the gods control magic and don't do it predictably.
== Theatre ==
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** 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.
** However it does play looser with acquisition of powers; Phase got his via some sort of virus that was non-contagious and nobody else displays any other form of symptom and Tennyo got hers via what are best described as Magic [[
* [[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.
* [[Hand Wave|Handwaving]] lack of internal consistency with extreme applications of [[Bellisario's Maxim]] is discussed in #3 of ''[[Cracked.com|Cracked]]'''s [https://web.archive.org/web/20131026104202/http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-common-movie-arguments-that-are-always-wrong_p2/ 6 Common Movie Arguments That Are Always Wrong].
* ''[[Chatoyant College]]'': There are strict rules on what can be achieved with each type of magic.
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** Fire produced by firebending doesn't seem to work in the way real-world fire does. I.e. it has concussive force, can burn in the air without fuel etc. This is mostly accepted because whilst not being portrayed ''realistically'' it is portrayed ''consistently''. Even Combustion Man's <s>exploding death-ray</s>sparky sparky boom ray is, [[All There in the Manual|according to the Nickelodeon Site]], something he was born with that allows him to focus his firebending to an extreme level. It also appears that it is that ''only'' form of firebending he is capable of. [[Crippling Overspecialization|With deadly results...]]
*** Firebending does break the internal rules in that, unlike the other elements, it can be created out of thin air (other benders can only manipulate existing quantities of their element). Again, it's accepted on the grounds that it's consistent in itself. (Interestingly, [[Live Action Adaptation]] ''[[The Last Airbender]]'' altered this exception, making it much harder to do and essentially enforcing the "must manipulate existing elements" rule.) Note that for the [[Did Not Do the Research|research]] and [[You Fail Physics Forever|physics]] [[Critical Research Failure|failing]] [[Viewers are Morons|viewers]], fire/flame ''does need'' tangible fuel (which air most certainly is not) in addition to heat and oxygen in order to exist. Thus, any explanation for fire/flames appearing without an existing fire source or fuel to consume either violates [[Elemental Baggage]] or [[You Fail Physics Forever|fails physics]] for the above reason.
**** Of course, the [[Live Action Adaptation]] proved why violating this trope isn't necessarily a bad thing, as adhering to it utterly ruined the Fire Nation as a credible threat, and produced a massive [[Idiot Plot]] in that the other nations could have easily beaten them just by putting out the dinky little torches they relied on and driving them off when [[Brought Down to Normal|they have nothing left to bend.]]
**** Flame is plasma and hot gas, so what they are really bending is heat, not matter. Fire bending is explicitly powered by the sun, so it seems they are actually concentrating sunlight and using it to superheat air (or generate an electrical potential). Superheating air quickly would carry a concussive force with it, due to the pressure generated by suddenly increasing the temperature of the air without changing its volume.
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* [[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.
* [[My Little Pony:
** 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.
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** And beyond these types is Magic P, wielded by [[Fun Personified|laughter-made-earth-pony-incarnate]] Pinkie Pie. She seems to have a completely different set of magical abilities that dabble in all of the above, including abilities that she should not be able to use due to her species type. Basically, the only hard and fast rule for Pinkie Pie is the [[Rule of Funny]], including [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]. Broadly, her ability is to behave like an archetypical classic cartoon character like [[Bugs Bunny]].
*** She also has "Pinkie Sense", an ability to foretell upcoming events by various twitches and feelings in her body. It is precise and consistent enough for the residents of Ponyville to record and use them. It also only works for things in the near future, and has no consistency with any known form of magic at all, much to Twilight's frustration.
*** Fandom being fandom, they use mostly [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]] in fanfics, presumably under the assumption that
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Applied Phlebotinum]]
[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]▼
[[Category:Consistency]]
[[Category:Esoteric Trope Names]]
[[Category:Magic and Powers]]
▲[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:Urban Fantasy Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Magic a Is Magic A]]
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