39,327
edits
Schrödinger's Gun: Difference between revisions
m
Mass update links
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) m (Looney Toons moved page Schrodingers Gun to Schrodinger's Gun: Inserting proper punctuation into page name) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 6:
In the former case, the advantage to this trope is obvious- a [[Game Master]] in a [[Tabletop Game]] could be badly hamstrung by a sufficiently [[Genre Savvy]] player anticipating the general direction of the campaign and being [[Crazy Prepared|prepared for anything]]. The subtle [[Retcon]] this trope provides is essential to keeping things interesting. Likewise, if it's necessary for the plot in a [[Video Game]] to have the [[Player Character]] meet [[The Rival]] early on but they're technically [[Wide Open Sandbox|free to go anywhere they want]], this trope is essential to keeping the plot together.
The trope has also become increasingly important in more traditional fiction as of late because the Internet's technological revolution is such that an author's "[[Movie Twist List|twists]]" could easily be predicted ahead of time if enough [[Fanon|clever fans]] [[
In interactive media such as video games, this trope can take the form of setting details retroactively warping themselves around the player's choices in ways that cannot be logically caused by the player character's in-universe choice -- for example, when the real location of [[MacGuffin|an artifact]] you seek throughout the campaign is dependent on the order in which you visit its possible locations.
Line 14:
Also known as "Railshroding" (forgive the pun) because it can easily be used for [[Railroading]] purposes.
The larger principle behind Schrodinger's guns is [[
Not unlike the [[Ascended Fanon]] as applied to world-building.
Line 20:
This can be a form of [[Cutting Off the Branches]]. [[It May Help You On Your Quest]] is related, but use of this trope doesn't necessarily imply the writers themselves don't know yet what's going to happen. A fictional character taking a similar approach to their master plan is playing [[Xanatos Speed Chess]]. Contrast [[Retcon]]. See also [[Multiple Choice Past]], where this happens when something gets different origins over a period of time and different writers.
Compare [[Writing By the Seat of Your Pants]], [[
See also the [[Useful Notes]] regarding [[Useful Notes/
{{examples
== Comic Books ==
Line 48:
* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined (TV)|Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]'':
** The "Helo on Caprica" plot in the first season was like this. Favorable fan reaction to Helo upgraded him to [[Mauve Shirt]], and a new plot was born. It's actually evolved to the point of being an entire series long affair, which in retrospect the writers may have never considered until the miniseries was over and done with.
** Likewise the four Cylons revealed in the Season 3 finale are practically Schrodinger's Hit-squad. All were perfectly plausibly human until the revelation, one even went through an "Am I a Cylon?" existential crisis and was told by an existing Cylon that he wasn't! But after the revelation, things still fit with them being Cylons. Though there are a few niggling plot details on how one managed to infiltrate colonial society for so long, the series kept its word that "anyone can be a Cylon". At this point, with one last Cylon left to reveal, the only people we ''know'' aren't Cylons are Helo {{spoiler|and Cally}} (have a [[Half
** And now with the final Cylon revealed as {{spoiler|Ellen Tigh}}, the niggling details are explained. {{spoiler|Cavil, the first humanoid Cylon they built, killed them, blocked their memories and placed them on the Colonies to witness the coming genocide.}} The "oldest" among them has been explained in official statements as {{spoiler|not having served in the first Cylon war, Saul just ''thinks'' he did, a service record was probably forged by Cavil.}}
** They're still Schodinger's Hit-squad when you realize that two of the four were unplanned additions to the cast, which means that there is literally no way their reveals were planned out from the start of the show. They even had to [[Retcon]] that {{spoiler|Nicki isn't a half cylon, Cally apparently slept with Hot Dog. The producers even admitted it was their biggest problem when picking Chief as a Cylon.}}
Line 134:
* ''[[Baldurs Gate]] II'' has a sidequest where one of your companions returns home to find his sister has been murdered, and an investigation is still in progress. His father is convinced it was a hit from a rival and tells you to kill him in revenge. If you kill the rival, you later find out that he was innocent; if you spare him, he was guilty all along.
* In ''[[Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World]]'', Emil is asked to guess which of Lloyd's companions joined him at the end of ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]''. Since it was based on [[Relationship Values]] there, ''any'' answer could be a correct one, and, indeed, no matter what Emil (that is, the player) guesses, Lloyd admits that he guessed correctly.
* In ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum (Video Game)|Batman Arkham Asylum]]'', at one point Batman must search three body bags in order to continue. No matter what order he opens the actual bags in, the result is always the same. {{spoiler|His dad's body, his mother's body, and then Scarecrow.}} Also, no matter what order you collect the audio logs in, they are always the next in the set, as are the Spirit of Arkham messages.
* An experience while playing ''[[Deja Vu]]'' seemed like a literal Schrodinger's Gun: trying to shoot the gun-toting mugger resulted in him firing first for a game over. Restarting and giving in to his demands the next time around let him escape while claiming that the gun wasn't even loaded.
** Of course that could just be the mugger kicking you when you're down.
Line 172:
== Web Comics ==
* The idea is brought up in [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1944.html this] ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' strip. Fittingly enough, the characters are players in a [[Deep
** Not only does the trope appear in that particular strip, but also in the writing process behind the strip. In the earlier draft of the comic, David Morgan-Mar kept flip-flopping on whether the punchline should reference Heisenberg or Schrödinger. He decided on Heisenberg and wrote [[The Rant|a long note below the comic]], explaining Heisenberg and the Uncertainty Principle, before realizing that Schrödinger worked better as a punchline and changing it. He left the note below mostly unchanged, presumably as a record of the uncertainty in the writing process.
* Also appears in ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' by the same creator, starting [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0179.html here]. It also appears in a more amusing variation, Schrodinger's Bodyguard, seen [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0211.html here].
Line 201:
** {{spoiler|It would be revealed that the boys were ''always'' clones.}}
* ''[[Total Drama]]'' has an alternate ending each season where the runner-up (in slightly different circumstances) actually won the prize. In fact, for the second season, it was declared that both endings ''were'' the possible "real ending", since each country voted differently on which of that final two they wanted to win. Unfortunately, the first and third season endings ended up very contrived by comparison.
* [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]] is a veritable font of minor [[Shrodingers Guns]] (Schrodinger's Derringers if you will), with all manner of nods towards it's [[Periphery Demographic|unexpected older fanbase]]. The most obvious is Derpy Hooves, who was an animator's joke in the first episode, but started getting inserted into episodes after the creators noticed the internet had latched onto her, and has even recently had a (rather controversial) voiced appearance.
== Real Life ==
| |||