Magic From Technology: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

The science-fiction equivalent of magic. Magic does not derive from an actual mystical or spiritual source; rather, it is technology in disguise. The characters using this magic may or may not be aware of its true origins.

 

 

Despite similarity to the literal translation, [[Deus Ex Machina]] is unrelated. Not to be confused with [[Magic-Powered Pseudoscience]] where [[A Wizard Did It|magic]] turns out to be the [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup|hidden component]] in a [[Rube Goldberg Device|seemingly mechanistic]] but otherwise [[Hand Wave|inexplicable]] invention.

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'': We are told, time and time again, that alchemy is a science. They go to great lengths to portray it as one, with lots of preparation and study, but it can do things that make no sense from our scientific perspective; it's [[Functional Magic]].

** Made worse by ignoring the first law of thermodynamics, but that itself is saved by making that flaw a plot point.

* ''[[Scrapped Princess]]'' is big on this. Despite the magi, dragons, gods, and whatnot {{spoiler|that inhabit this apparently medieval-fantasy setting, [[Lost Technology]] actually underlies everything.}}

* A variant of this is presented in episode 14 of the [[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]] anime. Virgillia explains that the Japanese fire ceremony, which today has been explained by science, was once seen as magic because it was like that to people at the time.

{{quote|'''Battler:''' In other words, if you don't know the principles it's based upon, a rain ceremony is just like magic?}}

** Again after the time skip, where she even corrects one of the enemies by stating her abilities is "purely science" while using a new staff she calls "sorcery climate".

* In ''[[GaoGaiGar]]'' (and its later OVA, [[GaoGaiGar]] FINAL), the [[Amplifier Artifact|G-Stone]] {{spoiler|and its relative the J-Jewel}}, [[The Virus|Zonder Metal]], and the [[Matter Replicator|Pas-Q Machine]] all do things that either border on or [[Beyond the Impossible|far, FAR surpass the impossible]], and no explanation for their operation is given beyond [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum|'ancient alien technology'.]]

 

== Comic Books ==

* The ''[[Flash]]'' villain Abra Kadabra was from a far future time, who used his advanced technology as "magic".

** At one point, he sold his soul to Nekron for real magic.

* ''[[Gold Digger (Comic Book)|Gold Digger]]'' both exemplified and subverted this in equal measure.

** At one point, Gina discovers that magic is {{spoiler|just a derivative of an ancient [[Magitek]] known as Beta Technology. The Saurians who were involved in its creation bio-engineered the dragons as a slave race, encoding them with the ability to use magic (how it works) but not the principles of the science (why it works). After the dragons rebelled and the Saurians were mostly wiped out, the knowledge of how everything worked was lost or sealed away, and what little the dragons knew about how things worked combined with the knowledge of other races formed the basis of ancient magic, with technology becoming a different science altogether.}} This explains why the Artificer, Gina's future identity, is a spellcaster beyond the comprehension of all but the most powerful [[Big Bad]], Dreadwing, and Gina is unable to comprehend even the most basic levitation spell in the present, though bits and pieces of her research that will eventually lead to this revelation have actively worried many magical authorities about Gina's continuing "merging" of magic and technology, which works in ways they don't understand.

* Skartaris, setting for ''[[The Warlord]]'', not only contains genuine magic but a lot of pre-cataclysmic Atlantean technology that functions like magic to the primitive inhabitants.

 

 

== Film ==

* Blackwood in ''[[Sherlock Holmes (film)|Sherlock Holmes]]'' tries to pass himself of as a sorcerer protected by Black Magic; Holmes deduces an explanation for every trick he performs derived from a combination of science and theatrics.

** Holmes also notes however, that Blackwood has indeed actually performed the dark rituals exactly as they were described in religious texts, so perhaps Blackwood had better hope that none of it was real after all (otherwise, he will have quite a price to pay when the bill on his eternal soul comes due)

** Other powers include a means of [[Voluntary Shapeshifting]], long-range communication and travel and a medallion that can transport people between planets via [[Astral Projection]] (that is, leaving the original body sleeping where you left it, and sending a copy with your mind in it to the destination).

 

== Literature ==

* In [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]]'s ''[[Darkover]]'' series, human colonists stranded on a metal-poor alient planet eventually develop a new science based on [[Psychic Powers]] and [[Power Crystal|"starstones"]]. The resulting "matrix technology" can do things believed to be impossible by the conventional technology used by other human worlds.

* [[John Ringo]]'s ''[[Council Wars]]'' series is based around this trope. Unlike most such examples, rather than being set [[After the End]] when people have long since forgotten the origin of their "magic", it's set ''during'' the breakdown of a [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] society into relative barbarism.

** Also in his ''[[Posleen War]]'' series the Indowy (and a very few human) Sohon adepts.

* Subverted in the [[Harry Turtledove]] short story ''Death in Vesuna''. A hot-headed time traveler shoots a Roman book dealer in order to get a book that doesn't exist in his time. The locals, who only heard the gunshot and found the corpse, assume it was "Zeus's thunderbolt", but the two men investigating the case use logic and intelligence to figure out exactly what happened.

** Also subverted in ''The Guns of the South'', the novel that made Turtledove famous. Time travelers go back to change [[The American Civil War]] in the Confederacy's favor by arming them with AK-47s. The guns are never treated as magic, simply as weapons of amazing quality whose appearance makes no sense (as a Confederate gunsmith points out, the guns simply appear out of nowhere, without any precursor models, which would still be vastly superior to anything currently available). Within a couple of years, the Confederates are producing their own copies (and the last chapter says that the United States has developed similar weapons). The same thing is true of the MREs and instant coffee the time travelers had. Dessicated foods are nothing new, just the idea of preparing coffee and whole meals that way.

* [[Isaac Asimov]]'s ''The Last Question'' turns out to be {{spoiler|''Divinity''}} From Technology.

* And [[Isaac Asimov]]'s first ''[[Foundation]]'' novel, the {{spoiler|Anacreonian civilisation is basically taken over by Salvor Hardin's new religion of science}}.

* The majority of stories where starship-era characters somehow meet medieval-era characters have the medieval-era people believe that the technology is actually magic, at least initially. Generally, it's only the trusted allies who are told that it's actually advanced technology, the bad guys are left believing it's magic, [[Crowning Moment of Funny|often with truly hilarious reactions]]. Sometimes has unfortunate consequences if there's a local Inquisition. [[David Weber]] is fond of this.

** In Christopher Stasheff's ''[[Warlock of Gramaraye]]'' series the main protagonist lands on a medieval world and because of his modern technology, he's taken for a magician (understandably, since magic - technically, [[Psychic Powers]] - is commonplace on the planet). {{spoiler|It is eventually revealed that they're right.}}

* ''[[Trapped]]'' by James Alan Gardner explains that magic on earth is actually alien nanotech that has displaced about 1/3rd of all bacteria in the entire ecosystem, including all the bacteria inside animals, and humans too. It can be controlled by people that had nanotech attach itself to the right spot in their brains while still in the womb. Where and how it attached determined the types of powers, and how they were activated. One character explained the feeling of performing magic being like having a million happy puppies eager to do his bidding.

* This is the central conceit of ''[[The Steerswoman]]''. The characters all use terminology that seems straight out of a [[Standard Fantasy Setting]], but their world is actually much more science-fictional (the "spell"-casting "wizards" are actually people who've preserved more technology than everyone else, the "gnomes" are {{spoiler|chimpanzees}}, the "demons" are {{spoiler|[[Starfish Aliens]]}}, and so on).

* Elizabeth Bear's ''Dust'' and ''Chill''. Angels are [[A Is]] given "bodies" by means of forcefields, magic swords are products of nanotech and the "magic" of the various sorcerers, priests and necromancers are varying combinations of cyber and biotech.

* Mike Resnick's ''The Buntline Special'' has Thomas Edison and Ned Buntline working under the auspices of the US government to find a way to circumvent Native American magic.

 

* ''[[Babylon 5]]'' and ''[[Crusade]]'' had the Technomages, who used advanced technology to create the effect of magic (for example, holographic dragons). In a scene from the ''Crusade'' episode "The Long Road", two Technomages nonchalantly watch a pack of flying demons attacking people in a room, and discuss details of how they were constructed.

** Interestingly, they're entirely forthright that they're using techonology; their belief seems to be that magic is at base ''defined'' as functional artwork, artistry, or artistic intent. The trappings are an attempt to reconnect themselves and others with the inherent wonders of the universe and of manipulating these through applied will. Even more interesting is that other people actually buy into it as well. For example, after a Technomage basically infects Londo's computer with a virus, Londo himself refers to it as being "possessed by a holo-demon".

* On ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|Not Quite Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] the Goa'uld use technology that their subjects believe is magic, but which the main characters realize is just machines. The Ori combine Sufficiently Advanced technology with strong [[Psychic Powers]] due to their [[Evolutionary Levels|evolved]] state.

* The "abilities" (i.e. superpowers) demonstrated by ''[[The 4400]]'' are a result of the existence of an [[90% of Your Brain|extra neurotransmitter]], [[Super Serum|Promicin]], in their brains due to {{spoiler|biological modification by people from the future}}.

* ''[[Quatermass|Quatermass and the Pit]]'' explained traditional black magic and the occult as being garbled racial memories of [[Ancient Astronauts]] meddling with the brains and cognitive abilities of primitive hominids.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** This is actually state policy. Common folk do not understand that their machines are exactly that and refer to "machine spirits" which need to be "appeased" by "rituals" to keep them working, healthy, and benevolent. Lesser "Tech Priests" usually buy the propaganda, too. Of course, the "religious" rituals tend to be good, old-fashioned maintenance with a few hymns thrown in. Based on the author (and world), this cargo cult madness might be reserved for very complex machines or might result in folks sing hymns to their noble, fallen light bulbs when they burn out. Whatever the case may be, the ''vast, vast'' majority of humans truly believe technology is magic.

* Lampshaded in ''d20 Past'', a supplement for ''[[D20 Modern]]''. The "Pulp Heroes" campaign setting includes a "Scientist" advanced class. One of the class features is that they make scientific discoveries, which they can then use to create technological devices by spending XP. The effects of these devices are taken from the spell lists for the "Urban Arcana" setting.

 

== Video Games ==

* The MMO ''[[Tabula Rasa]]'' is based around this - the PCs are humans with the capability to use ancient alien technology that writes information directly into their minds and lets them do seemingly magical things like shoot lightning.

* The very ''definition'' of ''[[Anarchy Online]]''. About twenty-four ''thousand'' years in the future, nanotechnology allows people to do such improbable things as throw lightning and fire, create huge, floating eyeballs that can throw lightning and fire, and survive death. How does nanotechnology allow people to survive death? No one knows: it doesn't work on any other planet.

* The ''[[Ar tonelico]]'' games use this sort of magic. The source of magic in the game world is a series of towers made from a [[Lost Technology]]. The spell casters in the game are either the administrators of the tower or the female descendants of same. They [[Magic Music|cast spells by singing songs in a special language]] that function analogously to computer programs to interface with the towers and summon forth magic.

** Even more so in the back story, as at one point there were machines that allowed regular humans to use it as well. However it was lost in [[The End of the World as We Know It]]. Well, [[The World Is Always Doomed|the most recent one]].

** Subverted {{spoiler|in that, after the device is destroyed, she still manages to deflect several projectiles fired at her.}}

** Otacon also invokes [[Clarke's Third Law]] as an explanation of Vamp's wall climbing skills in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots|MGS4]]''.

* ''[[Touhou]]'' PC-98 characters Rika, Rikako Asakura, Chiyuri Kitashirakawa, and Yumemi Okazaki have all used science to such degrees that spirits and fairies emerge. In the Windows series, the kappa frequently borrow and improve upon technology from outside Gensokyo, but this might be more [[Magitek]].

* ''[[Mass Effect]]'': Biotics are magic like abilities that some people develop, if they are fortunate enough to survive in-utero exposure to a [[Minovsky Physics|Minovsky Particle]], given brain surgery, and attach a [[Cyborg|cybernetic]] "amp" into the back of their neck. A biotic needs a lot more calories than normal [[Averted Trope|due to]] [[No Conservation of Energy|Conservation Of Energy]], and their powers are restricted to [[Gravity Screw|affecting mass, and creating singularities]].

* In the ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' games' backstory, a limitless energy source was eventually discovered and the scientists gave it the most appropriate name they could: magic.

* NOVA in ''[[Kirby Super Star]]'', the wish-granting comet god, is made of random mechanical parts.

 

* The vast majority of technology seen in ''[[Heliothaumic]]'' is derived from centuries of study of the titular Heliothaumic energy that is derived from the sun, either using solar panels or [[Green Rocks|thaumite]].

* In ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', a binding spell used to negate the powers of a [[Body Snatcher]] turns out to be a kind of computer program. However, the computer itself [[Magitek|contains magic parts]].

* Seems to be the case in ''[[Homestuck]]'', or at the very least Eridan seems to believe so, with his [[White Magic]] of SCIENCE as he calls it.

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', [[Mad Scientist|Tedd]] after his years-long study and refinement of alien [[Transformation Ray]] technology and related equipment. When one of his magic-using friends got in a trouble, they were offhandedly told that shapeshifting, innate or instrumental, uses [http://egscomics.com/?date=2008-11-13 essentially the same forces as magic], and witnessed crude measurement of the latter. Three guesses at [http://egscomics.com/index.php?arcid=72 what his next project is about]?

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* In [http://everything2.com/title/How%2520the%2520scientists%2520discovered%2520magic How Scientists discovered magic]. Inverted with [http://everything2.com/title/How%2520mages%2520discovered%2520the%2520scientific%2520method How mages discovered the scientific method].

 

* Parodied in one of ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'''s future [[What If]] episodes. "We can do anything now that scientists have invented magic!"

* In ''[[The Secret of NIMH]]'', no attempt is made to explain how a series of injections (in the novel, mostly steroids) have given Nicodemus [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]] and [[Mind Over Matter|telekinesis]]. However, since it's [[Rule of Cool|awesome]] and thematic, it doesn't have to.

* [[The Powerpuff Girls]] were made from Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice.

* Used and averted in ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'', where Kid Flash attempts a technobabble explanation to Doctor Fate's genuine mystical powers. Klarion the witch boy, another magic user, observes this and mocks his current minion Abra Kadabra with the fact that Flash has identified the precise method that he uses to pretend to have magical powers.

 

== Real Life ==

* Practioners of [[wikipedia:Chaos Magic|Chaos Magic]] and [[wikipedia:Technoshamanism|Technoshamanism]] believe that this is essentially true.

* There have been a few cases where human beings with less advanced technology encountered objects from societies with more advanced technology and came to the conclusion, "Magic." In some cases, the less technological society has converted religions since clearly the other society's god(s) were more capable of giving their "shamans" power. Cargo cults are one such case. These members generally believe benevolent spirits/ancestors/gods made the manufactured goods and sent them to the more technological society whether due to the rituals and temples (shipping manifests, radio calls, piers, airstrips, etc) of the other group or because these rituals tricked the benevolent spirits to sending the goods. The cult mirrors the actions taken by their more technologically endowed neighbors in order to get the goods themselves. The locals had no experience of modern industry and tended not to believe the explanations given to them.

** Likewise this happens with missionaries. If a group had no modern theory of disease and sees many children die to a disease, they'll likely conclude evil spirits or something supernatural is responsible. If missionaries, who generally mean well whether you agree or not with them, hand out little tablets that make the disease go away, the locals most likely conclusion is, "Jesus' magic is -way- stronger than whatever we've been doing before." One hopes they are later educated.

** How about magic fire? It can be lit and extinguished at will, and able to burn brighter than any ordinary fire (light bulbs). Even old technology can seem like magic to those who came before.

* A history channel documentary about scientific prophecies of doom included men discussing the impending disasters such as total economic collapse and other such global tragedies. One commented that the current age of man is entirely dependent on oil products that are little more than magic in what it has allowed us to achieve, take away the oil however and...

** For added [[Paranoia Fuel]] it might eventually also be possible for devices like that [[Mind Control Device|to work in reverse]], as well.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Futuristic Tech Index]]

[[Category:Hollywood Science]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:Magic and Powers]]