Schrödinger's Butterfly: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Blue Morpho Butterfly ATC.jpg|frame|Are you really [http://home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html a dream] of [[St Elsewhere|this butterfly]]?]]

[[File:Blue Morpho Butterfly ATC.jpg|frame|Are you really [http://home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html a dream] of [[St. Elsewhere|this butterfly]]?]]

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This serves as a source of mystery and speculation in a story. Did the heroes really break the spell cast by the [[Master of Illusion]], or are they all imagining it? Did they escape the [[Convenient Coma]] that trapped them in a [[Happy Place]]... or merely trade a perfect illusory world for a more realist one? These doubts may never be resolved until a [[Sequel]] comes out or [[Word of God]] clarifies it. Sometimes, the ambiguity works in favor of the story, leaving it [[Leave the Plot Threads Hanging|open to interpretation.]]

Much like the [[~~Schrodinger~~'s Cast|other]] [[~~Schrodinger~~'s Gun|Schrodinger]] [[~~Schrodinger~~'s Suggestion Box|tropes]], this plot point can also serve as an [[Author's Saving Throw]] by retroactively making it [[All Just a Dream]]. Or if the author ''really'' wants to mess with us, end the movie or film on a [[Downer Ending]], with a fading shot of the character's [[Dying Dream|dying]] or still comatose body trapped in the illusion.

Much like the [[Schrödinger's Cast|other]] [[Schrödinger's Gun|Schrodinger]] [[Schrödinger's Suggestion Box|tropes]], this plot point can also serve as an [[Author's Saving Throw]] by retroactively making it [[All Just a Dream]]. Or if the author ''really'' wants to mess with us, end the movie or film on a [[Downer Ending]], with a fading shot of the character's [[Dying Dream|dying]] or still comatose body trapped in the illusion.

The trope name is a reference to a poem by the 4th century BC Chinese philosopher [[Zhuangzi]], a Taoist philosopher who influenced Chinese Buddhism. It refers also to [[Schrödinger's Cat|Erwin Schrödinger's thought experiment relating to quantum uncertainty]]. If you can't tell, we like to be well balanced in our [[geek]]ery on this wiki.

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* Zhuangzi's poem is the source of all the butterfly symbolism in the ''[[Persona (video game)|Persona]]'' games, as referenced by ''Megami Ibunroku Persona's'' intro. The remake even references this in the opening lyrics.

{{quote|''Dream of butterfly / Or is life a dream? / Don't wanna wake up / [[Spoiler Opening|Cause I'm happy here]]'''}}

* On a similar note, [[Persona 3|Persona 3 Portable]] is implied to be this, because though one can choose either a female or male protagonist, the story is the same ([[~~Schrodinger~~'s Player Character|save for one or changes in social links]]).

* On a similar note, [[Persona 3|Persona 3 Portable]] is implied to be this, because though one can choose either a female or male protagonist, the story is the same ([[Schrödinger's Player Character|save for one or changes in social links]]).

* ''[[Silent Hill 1]]'s'' Bad Ending shows us the protagonist dying in his broken car; apparently all the game was just [[Dying Dream|a dream he had between the car crash and his death]]. Other endings are less unhappy, though... except for the one where he kills his daughter and he and an [[Innocent Bystander]] get roasted alive in a collapsing [[Dark World|hell-dimension]]. Oh, and there are four sequels; he's revealed to have survived in the third {{spoiler|[[Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome|only to be killed off-screen]]}}.

* Part of the ending of the Ciel route in ''[[Tsukihime]]'' involves Shiki in a mental dream world where there are no vampires, Ciel is just a normal girl and he doesn't have his [[Evil Eye|Eyes of Death Perception.]] He catches on pretty quick and has a little chat with his Nanaya side over whether he wants to leave or not, because leaving most likely means death.