Smart Ball: Difference between revisions
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Sometimes, a good joke has a great punchline, but none of the characters are witty enough to know it, or a story can't move forward since none of the characters know some crucial skill or fact. What's an author to do? [[Out-of-Character Moment|Toss them]] the Smart Ball!
Characters who catch the '''Smart Ball''' become knowledgeable regarding some trivia or discipline needed to deliver a punchline, discover clues, or implement a [[Batman Gambit|foolproof solution]] to whatever problem they face when [[Fawlty Towers Plot|normally such attempts fail]]. They may also become far better at [[Poor Communication Kills|effectively communicating]] information, allowing several character to put their clues together to discover the villain's [[Evil Plan]].
Using the Smart Ball is [[Tropes Are Not Bad|not necessarily bad]]. While it ''can'' be an [[Ass Pull]] if [[The Ditz]] suddenly demonstrates [[You Didn't Ask|a keen skill at molecular biology]], it's not much of a stretch to imagine the [[Jerk Jock]] also knows the results for every Superbowl since 1975. If a character is tossed the Smart Ball enough times, they may even get [[Character Development]] that makes the smarts permanent.
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== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Detective Conan]]'': Agasa catches this ball about three episodes into the series and promptly pockets
** Depending on your point of view, Kogoro could also be said to catch this ball a few times over the course of the series whenever he actually manages to get a deduction right.
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== Videogames ==
* Emiya Shirou of ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' is not the sharpest knife in the drawer for the Fate route and most of the Unlimited Blade Works route. {{spoiler|Then he has an [[Eureka Moment]], figures out how to turn into a [[Reality Warper]] [[Awesomeness By Analysis|entirely by watching Archer,]] and never drops the
* The ''Judge'' is given the Smart Ball in case 3-5 of ''[[Phoenix Wright]]''. It's even lampshaded:
{{quote|'''The Judge''': {{spoiler|But no one could have predicted lightning hitting the bridge}}
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== Webcomics ==
* [[The Ditz|Fighter]] of ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'' often catches the
** Double subverted [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2006/10/05/episode-752-its-all-fun-and-games-until-everything-dies/ here.]
** A common answer to a question about out-of-character moments on the forums (started by the author and continued by his fans) is that all characters are as smart as they need to be for a joke.
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* There's an episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' where Homer is suddenly knowledgeable about the laws of physics for the sake of a joke. His line after Lisa builds a perpetual motion device (that actually ''keeps going faster and faster'')?
{{quote|'''Homer:''' In this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics!}}
** Homer has had several humorously out of character
** His most common and impressive form of brilliance is when he infrequently appears to be an [[Omniglot]]. Homer has spoken Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Russian and even ''Penguin'', amongst others. He has passed this trait onto Bart who has picked up French, Spanish and Japanese himself in different episodes.
** He also once corrected Apu on the nature of karma, using somewhat more complex words than usual in this scene.
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** Edd guessed that it may have been because he was pantless at the time.
** In another episode, Ed pulled of a subversion of this of sorts. He figured out Eddy's brother's complicated treasure map like it was nothing (the map was supposed to be superimposed over Eddy's face at a certain angle). When Edd was baffled and asked him how he did it, (essentially) said it was because he and Eddy's brother were both brothers.
* [[Inspector Gadget]] has rightly earned his reputation as an imbecile many times over, but even he was perfectly capable of holding the
{{reflist}}
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