Reverse Polarity: Difference between revisions

 

 

''[[Beat|*Odd look*]]''<br />

'''Harley Quinn:''' I don't know... [[Take That|but it always works on]] ''[[Star Trek|Star Quest]]''.|''[[Gotham Girls]]'', "Cold Hands, Cold Heart"}}

* In ''[[Transformers Victory]]'', Braver invents a device that can detect Decepticon brainwaves. During the inevitable battle, he is able to drive them off by actually reversing the polarity.

* ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' episode "Honky Tonk Woman":

 

 

== Comicbooks ==

* Subverted in ''[[Runaways]]'': Victor Mancha (who is being held captive by the aforementioned group) attempts to escape by threatening Gertrude York with a ''remote'' that has had its "polarity reversed". The other Runaways scoff at the idea.

'''Molly:''' Yeah, right. Even '''I''' know he's tricking, and I dropped out of the '''fourth grade'''. }}

** Ironically, it might not be pretty... but really only for the remote. This is one of those things you don't try at home.

* A [[Carl Barks]] comic book in the [[Disney Ducks Comic Universe]] is the earliest recorded use of [[Reverse Polarity]] as technobabble, dating all the way back to March 1961 ([http://coa.inducks.org/issue.php?c=us/US+++33#02 US #33]) in "Billions in the Hole".

'''Dewey''': We'll take your word for it, sir. }}

* [[Atomic Robo]]'s solution for sending the Vampires back the Vampire Dimension is to reverse polarity. Shockingly, the experiment that brought them into our world does not have a "reverse" option, causing Robo to declare that the feature is to be strict company policy from then on. Lampshade, thou art hung.

* In the original ''[[Spy Kids]]'', the heroes force a [[Heel Face Turn]] of the titular Spy Kids robots by reversing their alignment polarity. He does this by ''inverting the binary code''. While it probably would stop the robots from attacking, they would be more likely to crash then turn good. Of course, you can [[Never Say "Die"]] in a kids film, so...

* In ''[[Young Frankenstein]]'', Frederick reads from his [[Doctor Frankenstein|grandfather's]] book ''[[Fictional Document|How I Did It]]'':

** Some fans justify it in that, being at the end of the journal, we don't hear all of it. Basicly what if one neck bolt was positive and the other negative, and the first experiment got them wrong? For the second one, you would reverse the poles and it would then work.

* In possibly the earliest use of this trope, ''[[Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man]]'' (1943), Dr. Frankenstein's journal explains that the practically immortal monster can be killed by attaching him to the machine that gave him life and "changing the poles".

** And in "200", during a [[Star Trek]] parody, Mitchell as [[The Captain]] asks Carter to reverse the polarity in an overly dramatic manner.

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'', as mentioned above. Even LESS justified as it is often neutron flow that is reversed-- as neutrons are one of the few particles with no electric charge, changing their polarity would do a great big sod all. After a long time of deliberately ''not'' using the phrase, the Tenth Doctor once said it [[Continuity Nod]].

** ''Doctor Who'' also provides a rare example of polarity reversal ''not'' working. When Nyssa and Tegan are rapidly aged every time the Doctor tried to take off the ship in ''Mawdryn Undead'' due to... something or other, the Fifth Doctor attempts to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow. This only causes them to de-age into children. [[MST3K Mantra|Try not to think about it.]]

*** The exact same thing happened to the Fourth Doctor, only it was a chicken turning into an egg, and it wasn't a failure--he was making a point about the technology. [[It Makes Sense in Context]].

* Paul Chuckle is always using this in ''[[Chucklevision]]''. At one point he reverses the polarity of a UV light (which helps plants grow) to shrink his brother Barry.

* In the second season ''[[The Man from U.N.C.L.E.|The Man From UNCLE]]'' episode "The Minus-X Affair", THRUSH scientist Lillian Stemmler is developing a pair of drugs. One ("Plus-X") heightens the senses of the recipient to an almost superhuman degree. The other ("Minus-X") is intended to incapacitate its victims. And how is Minus-X made? Obviously:

'''Lillian Stemmler:''' No problem. To get the Minus-X drug, I only have to reverse the chemical processes inherent in the Plus-X. }}

** In "The Moonglow Affair", Solo and Kuryakin are poisoned with deadly radiation from a THRUSH ray gun. To cure them, [[Poorly-Disguised Pilot|substitute agent]] [[The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.|April Dancer]] must obtain the ray gun so that UNCLE scientists can reverse the polarity and shoot our heroes with it again.

* At the end of ''[[Ratchet and Clank]] 2'', {{spoiler|Angela's anti-Protopet weapon turns the Protopet into a giant monster. When she attempts to figure out what went wrong, Clank points out that the battery is in backwards.}}

* [[Morrowind]] makes a reference to this trope in a [http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Itermerel%27s_Notes certain mage's notes]:

* Your [[Mission Control]] in ''[[Vanquish]]'' says this word for word. But in that case, you're just trying to make a [[Humongous Mecha]]'s giant energy cannon blow up.

 

* ''[[Keychain of Creation]]'' has Misho point out the implausibility of this: "[http://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0148.html SOL DAMNIT THAT SHOULDN'T DO ANYTHING EVEN IF IT IS POSSIBLE!]"

* Lampshaded in [[Doctor Who]] [[Fanfic]] Webcomic [[The 10 Doctors (Fanfic)|The 10 Doctors]].

2: Oh, that's your answer to everything! }}

* Done [http://exterminatusnow.comicgenesis.com/d/20100926.html here] in [[Exterminatus Now]], to shut down the Void. Complete with references to both [[Star Trek]], Ghostbusters, and a [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade.]]

** And in "Call of the Primitives", Grimlock manages to stop Tornedron, an energy-eating being, by reversing his energy polarity (by throwing a switch).

* In ''[[Danny Phantom]]'', Danny uses reverse polarity on the Fenton Thermos to close a ghost portal.

'''Sam''': No. That you knew what reverse polarity was. }}

* In ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force|Ben 10 Alien Force]]'', this is required to get Ben's hand back from the Null Void after Sunder separates it from the rest of his body.

* ''[[The Amazing Spiez]]''. In "Operation The 50 Ft. Hacker" a device called the Super Soaker Supersizer has its polarity reversed to return Megan and Davey to normal size.

* An episode of the ''[[Men in Black (animation)|Men in Black]]'' Cartoon had a super-power giving device. How do you undo its effects? To paraphrase:

'''Alien 2''' "Nah, just switch the wires in the bottom and use it again." }}

* Subverted in the Founding Zombies episode of ''[[Johnny Test]]''. When Johnny uses a ray gun to bring the town's Founding Fathers back to life, [[Always Identical Twins|Susan (or Mary)]] attempt to stop them by "reversing the polarity" of the gun. However, because they weren't completely alive, it did nothing. Johnny then had them "reverse the reverse polarity thing" to bring back their mothers and "save" the day.