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Temporal Paradox: Difference between revisions
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* In ''[[Quantum Leap]]'', it appears that Sam is affected by the changes he makes to history only after he leaps, and this has some bearing on his occasional manifestation of [[Suddenly Always Knew That|previously unmentioned skills]] (and previously unmentioned/nonexistent family members). Al, on the other hand, seems to be affected instantly, but only when probability of a new event becomes sufficiently high. (In one episode, Sam assures Al's untimely death. When the probability reaches 100%, Al is replaced by another character, but he reappears when Sam reduces the probability.)
* One has to give credit to ''[[Doctor Who]]'', in that a show with a ''time traveler'' as a central character delves into temporal paradoxes relatively infrequently; in most cases, the time travelling is just a way to set stories in different periods, the temporal version of [[Adventure Towns]]. It does have its fair share of 'em though (especially after Steven Moffat started writing for the new series):
** "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S2/E09 The Time Meddler|The Time Meddler]]" had characters speculate that if history was changed, their memories would be updated with the new version instantly—though later events imply this is not actually the case. In "[[Doctor Who/Recap/
*** The earlier example was retconned in the later one with a [[Hand Wave]] by the Doctor saying that when the Time Lords were still alive they prevented this sort of thing from happening.
** The series does tend to imply that the "Laws of Time" are more of a legal code than physical law: in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/
*** Although there's the recurring concept of fixed events as opposed to unfixed ones - events that must happen in a specific way, as opposed to ones that could happen any way. The Doctor, of course, has the inherent ability to tell them apart. And, of course, no one else does. Usually.
** Also, in the old series Gallifrey had the [[Deus Ex Machina|Eye of Harmony]], a modified black hole that acted as an unlimited power source, universe-wide navigational beacon, and the mother of all temporal stabilizers. Thus even if they screwed up, the Time Lords had access to enough energy to maintain the desired timeline by brute force if necessary (as seen in The Five Doctors). In the new series, the Eye of Harmony has been destroyed, so The Doctor has less to work with.
** Another interesting use of the temporal paradox concept comes in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/
** Also, "[[Doctor Who/Recap/
*** To make things more interesting, [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31/E04 The Time of Angels|The Time of Angels]] reveals to us that {{spoiler|the image of an Angel is an Angel}} and with everything in that folder she handed the Doctor, the transcript, [[Fridge Horror|several pictures of Angel statues]], the list... I wonder where those scavenger Weeping Angels came from anyway.
** It gets much weirder in the [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]], which features [[Faction Paradox]], a villain group whose [[Planet of Hats|hat]] is temporal paradoxes. In fact, part of their [[Cult|initiation ritual]] involves traveling back in time and [[Self-Made Orphan|killing off your own ancestors]]. Yes, really.
*** At one point, they infected the Third/Fourth Doctor with [[The Virus|Faction biodata]] during a regeneration that wasn't supposed to happen (when he was shot on Dust, instead of [[Doctor Who/Recap/S11/E05 Planet of the Spiders|the canon radiation poisoning on Metebelis Three]]), causing the Eighth Doctor to disrupt his own timeline so that the Third Doctor was shot on Dust, permitting the Faction to infect him with the biodata, which caused him to tinker with the past so he could be infected with the biodata... [[Your Head Asplode|BOOM!]]
*** And that's ''before'' you enter the [[Eldritch Location|Eleven-Day Empire]], a place ''literally'' made of nonexistant time. Or the [[Humanoid Abomination|Grandfather]] [[Grandfather Paradox|Paradox]], the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of [[Future Me Scares Me|all potential evil and despair]] in the Universe. Or the part where Gallifrey's history is repeteadly raped into oblivion.
** You really have to give credit to [[Doctor Who/Recap/2010
*** And ''then'' the Doctor brings the past version of Scrooge—er, Kazran, to visit his ''future self.''
*** Attempts to follow this seriously may lead to [[Your Head Asplode|your head asploding.]]
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* French-Canadian movie based from a cult tv show ''Dans une galaxie près de chez vous 2'' featured a spatio-dimensional rip (shaped like a zipper) who goes to present Earth. The Capitain was able to chuck down a DVD with their plea ([[Green Aesop|NOT to destroy the ozone layer]]) recorded on it. It backfired when the video got featured on ''[[YouTube]]'' and ridiculed as "[[wikipedia:Star Wars Kid|Star Wars Twit]]" (Being bad at pronounciation dosen't help). Nevertheless, it might have pushed a younger version of the Capitain to go into space, directly ''and'' indirectly setting the events of the show into place.
* ''[[Austin Powers]]: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' shows Austin briefly attempting to reason why no time paradox has occurred due to he and Dr. Evil time traveling to a date where they logically shouldn't be. Basil Exposition puts his mind at ease
{{quote|Basil "I advise that you not worry about that sort of thing and.. just enjoy yourself [[Aside Glance|(faces audience)]] that goes for you all too."
Austin (also facing audience) "Yes" }}
* The reason the universe is ending in ''Star Crossed'' is because of all the various paradoxes created by the Federation, from [[Star Trek|Jim Kirk]] to [[Star Trek: Voyager|Captain Janeway]].
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