Magic Antidote: Difference between revisions
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Long story short, a vaccine wouldn't be very effective once a character's symptoms develop, let alone in the 11th hour right before said character is about to die from the disease as this trope describes.
Antidotes are even worse. Fictional antidotes are benevolent drugs that exactly reverse the effects of a poison. They may even visibly reverse their ravages, such as [[Tainted Veins]]. In [[Real Life]] there are only two drugs that reverse each other's
Sometimes, writers will try to excuse this by suggesting that the recently-cured hero's drive and inner strength is enough to restore them temporarily, but, we are assured, they're going to have to spend some time in the hospital right after the end credits roll. The very real prospect of liver or other internal organ damage is rarely even hinted at.
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== Literature ==
* The ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]'' expands on the properties of bacta, which while not an antidote is basically a heal-all, cure-
** Prior to bacta, everyone used kolto, a substance collected only on one planet - the [[Single Biome Planet|water world]] of Manaan. That is why Manaan was able to remain neutral during the Jedi Civil War - both sides needed kolto to heal its wounded troops, although both sides also knew that their neutrality was shaky at best. Realizing this, the Selkath (Manaan natives) officials were secretly working with the Republic on increasing their supply. Eventually, bacta replaced kolto entirely.
* The Martian curative arts in [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s ''[[John Carter of Mars]]''.
{{quote|''Bleeding and weak I reached my women, who, accustomed to such happenings, dressed my wounds, applying the wonderful healing and remedial agents which make only the most instantaneous of death blows fatal. Give a Martian woman a chance and death must take a back seat. They soon had me patched up so that, except for weakness from loss of blood and a little soreness around the wound, I suffered no great distress from this thrust which, under earthly treatment, undoubtedly would have put me flat on my back for days.''}}
* Averted in the ''[[Belgariad|Malloreon]]''
* In the ''[[Time Scout]]'', lots of [[Snake Oil Salesman|Snake Oil Salesmen]] sell these on Shangri La. Skeeter starts such a scam but gets interrupted. Ianira may just make the real thing. Skeeter's scheme was based on a [[Sacred Pool]] believed to have such properties near Marcus's childhood home.
* A spoonfull of an orally-taken cure for the Sickenesse in ''[[Septimus Heap]]'' takes only a minute to awake a person suffering from it.
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* Handwaved in ''[[Andromeda]]'' by saying it was his unique physiology that made the cure work so fast. Reasonable enough because, the same physiology also made the disease work faster than usual.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'', "The Christmas Invasion". One minute he's sick enough to only have [[Bizarre Alien Biology|one heartbeat]], and the next he's [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|sword fighting]] the leader of an alien invasion force. The fact that the cure is apparently ''[[Spot of Tea|tea]]'' is just the icing on the weirdness cake.
** Are you saying tea ''isn't'' supposed to be a
*** Tea also provided the fix for Craig's encounter with the "rot" in ''The Lodger''. From what sense can be made of the Doctor's mutterings, the (very strong) tea enhanced some natural process that was fighting the infection, and if Craig had touched the mold more than the tiniest amount, he'd be done for.
*** It's a British show. Of ''course'' tea is the
** ''Doctor Who'' has been using this trope all the way back since its ''first'' season with "The Sensorites".
== Tabletop Games ==
* Subverted in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''. Curing poison or a disease will stop things getting worse, but damaged attributes need to be restored separately. Natural healing is fairly slow and can be accelerated with expert care and bed
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* Used in ''[[Treasure of the Rudra]]'' {{spoiler|Foxy is put into the "Eternal Slumber" by one of the bosses, they need to get a special herb to save her.}}
* In games in which there is healing magic, it's very curious that it manages to medically cure stab-wounds (both superficial and serious), magical burns and electrocution, the bodily damage caused by poison, beatings from blunt weapons, etc.<br />Also, expect all ailments like poison, disease, being afflicted by time in some way, confusion and sleep to be cured instantly if you can find that one right damn thing at the bottom of your items list.
** Of course, a
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]''
** In ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'', a "soft" (whatever that is) can instantly cure a character that has been [[Taken for Granite|turned to stone]], except, of course, if you've been turned to stone by a forest, in which case you need to spend a quarter of a disc searching for a 'supersoft'.
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