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Weirdness Censor: Difference between revisions
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One of many things that enables the [[Masquerade]], especially its [[Extra-Strength Masquerade|extra strength variant]], and allows [[Muggles|Muggle]] characters to act like real people despite the extraordinary things that go on in their universe every day. When it's an actual [[Stock Super Powers|power,]] becomes subject to [[You Can See Me?]] And they, in fact, can be seen [[By the Eyes of the Blind]].
This can sometimes lead to [[Artificial Atmospheric Actions]] where NPCs merely treat all sorts of odd stuff as an everyday occurrence.
Also see [[City of Weirdos]].
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* In ''[[Sailor Moon]] SuperS'', a gigantic evil circus tent appears right in the middle of Tokyo, in obvious plain view. Among the other random massive evil fortresses and demonic whatnots that show up in the middle of that same city in other seasons. Part of what makes this one stand out in the show is a lack of this problem in most cases: the evil base in the first season was underground in Antarctica, the base is second season was on a distant planet in the far future, the base in the third season is a covert underground lab, and in the fifth it appears to be located in another dimension. The circus thing was actually [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] by [[Monster of the Week|the Lemures]] immediately after its appearance - they mocked the citizens for not noticing it.
* In ''[[Ikki Tousen]]'' nobody seems to care that students attack each other's high schools and commit openly visible acts of extreme violence. You'd at least expect that the police would try to intervene - or that the army would be called in to do something about the genocide that's taking place.
** In the manga a doctor commented in it being more or less a bunch of delinquents beating each-other to death. He seems to be the only one that has noticed.
* In ''[[Windy Tales]]'', almost nobody notices the huge amounts of cats that ''fly around'' on air streams, not even when they're cluttered together in a huge ball consisting of dozens of them during a typhoon.
* In ''[[Princess Tutu]]'', the typical townsperson (and the majority of the main cast in the beginning) doesn't question any of the "odder" stuff that goes on in Kinkan, including ballerina-dancing Anteaters (and other anthropomorphic animals). Even visitors to the town are affected--one women wonders if her troupe leader used to be an electric eel before arriving to the town, then quickly brushes it off. Later on in the series, it's revealed that it's because of {{spoiler|the story magically controlling the town and the people inside of it}}. The only people that ever seem to realize something's off with the town are either important to the story, or actively go ''looking'' for something odd in the town.
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* Much of the humor in [[Buso Renkin]] stems from the fact that the author took all the usual components of sci-fi superhero series, reached over to switch labeled "Weirdness Censor" and flipped it to "off." All of this is completely unknown to the main cast (except Tokiko, who lampshades it occasionally) who behave as flamboyantly as possible, fully believing that the Weirdness Censor is in full effect.
* This is often played for laughs in the typically bizarre world of [[One Piece]]. Particularly because the captain of the Strawhat Pirates, who is ''literally'' [[Rubber Man|made of rubber]], and who has recruited a large cast of truly freaky charaters into his crew, finds extremely random things to be weird. For example, he has a talking reindeer as his ship's doctor, but is shocked and baffled to meet a talking bear on another crew.
* Lampshaded in the yaoi manga Sex Pistols: any "Madararui talk" overheard by the "normal" humans is automatically and subconsciously discarded. The art plays it literal for laughs: inside the normal people thought-clouds, a paper with "Madararui talk" written on it is crushed into a ball and then thrown into a garbage bin.
* In ''[[Berserk]]'', this explains why normal people literally [[Invisible to Normals|cannot see supernatural creatures]] of the less-antagonizing variety, as people only bother to remember what they can explain (or what's not trying to rape and eat them).
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* In one of the ''[[Darkman]]'' sequels, a newspaper headline refers to Darkman as "an urban Bigfoot", suggesting that the public thinks of him as a rumor.
* In ''[[Beetlejuice]]'' the dead are [[Invisible to Normals]] because the living ignore the "strange and unusual." However Lydia can see the Maitlands because, as she says "I myself am strange and unusual."
* Notably and hilariously averted in the diner scene in ''[[When Harry Met Sally...]]''.
* The [[X-Men (film)|X-Men]] movies play fast and loose with this trope. The world knows mutants exist to the point where governments are trying to pass laws against them, there are entire studies done on them, the issue is being discussed in the media, and people are actively protesting for/against them. Despite this, people are usually shocked when they see mutants displaying their powers with only a few exceptions. This even includes [[Wolverine]] who finds the concept of the X-Men bizarre despite the fact that he is a mutant himself.
** Justified in that mutants are a minority who mostly try to keep their powers a secret. As such, seeing them use their powers would be unusual even if you knew they existed.
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* In the ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'' books, a magical force called Mist acts as an active [[Weirdness Censor]] to cover up whenever a mortal sees gods or monsters. A few mortals are known to be immune to its effects.
* In the ''[[Clan of the Cave Bear]]'' series, the Clan are unable to see someone who has been sentenced to death. The person sentenced isn't killed; the medicine man says "you are dead" and everyone else assumes that to be true. Even if they do "see" the person they assume it's an evil spirit pretending to be that person. Ayla (the main character) even tells her BF in a later book that if she were to tell some Clan people they've just met that she had been sentenced to death they would instantly be unable to see her.
** The explanation in the books regarding this is quite fuzzy. The Clan don't appear to physically lose the ability to see the person; they just believe the person is a spirit, and that if the spirit is ignored for long enough, they will disappear.
* Lynn Mims uses this in a story in a ''[[Darkover]]'' anthology--Caleb Hargrave’s Weirdness Censor is so strong that it cancels out psi powers. {{spoiler|He’s a walking telepathic damper... but it only works when he’s nearby.}}
* In the Hitman novels of the 1970's, featuring Mike Ross, private investigator who operated in the guise of the hockey masked figure the Hitman, the Hitman stood as legendary figure only hinted at by the media. Possibly some cover occurred.
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== Live Action TV ==
* "Sunnydale Syndrome" (this trope's alternate name) is ascribed to the residents of Sunnydale, California in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', a town where people live in [[Somebody Else's Problem|comical denial]] of the vampires, werewolves and other supernatural forces that roam its streets. This does see occasional [[Lampshade Hanging]]: people on the sly mention all the "mysterious" deaths, and musician Aimee Mann says she hates playing vampire towns. A particularly large lampshade is hung at the end of season three, where the graduating class of Sunnydale High gives Buffy an award as "Class Protector", while admitting they don't usually acknowledge there's anything to be protected from. This indicates that they probably know that something's going on with their town, and something odd as well, but they don't suspect supernatural forces to be involved. In season 6, a typical ''Sunnydale Times'' headline reads "Mayhem Ensues: Monsters Definitely Not Involved". Then again, Snyder mentions lying about vampires attacking the high school in season 2, telling journalists it was a gang on PCP -- which the chief of police says is the usual story.
{{quote|'''Giles''': People rationalize what they can and forget what they can't.}}
** Towards the end of season 7, the residents finally start to clue up that the town isn't safe, leaving en masse. The weirdness censor is broken ''globally'' in season 8, when Harmony is photographed biting Andy Dick and vampires, demons, Slayers, and magic are brought to light.
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* [[The Elder Scrolls|Tamriel]] has one, partly thanks to [[Artificial Atmospheric Actions]]. NPCs will calmly continue to discuss just how horrid mudcrabs are regardless of what's going on around them.
* [[Touhou Project|Touhou Project's]] Koishi Komeiji [[Superpower Lottery|has the ability to manipulate the subconscious]], the most common application of which seems to be to trigger peoples' Weirdness Censors, [[Perception Filter|thereby making herself invisible to them]].
* For some reason in ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
** {{spoiler|[[Fridge Brilliance|But they probably would have forgotten about seeing Xion, actually]].}}
* In ''[[Golden Sun]]'' and both sequels, Psynergy itself is [[Invisible to Normals]]... but people still should be able to see the objects that move without being touched, fires starting and stopping, sprouts growing into giant vines in a matter of seconds, puddles freezing into giant ice pillars, and that group of [[Anime Hair|Anime Haired]] teenagers that always seems to be around when strange things happen. The number of situations where anybody notices Psynergy in use or the effects thereof, in all three games, can be counted on one hand.
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* ''[[Family Guy]]'' parodies this hilariously. The Griffins ignore the giant squid that destroys their home, [[Elephant in The Room|choosing to blame it on earthquakes or a truck driving by]].
* Officer Barbrady does this a lot in the early episodes of ''[[South Park]]'', whether it's political corruption or alien plots.
* Played straight and subverted in the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bETCusT5kNM Cat Came Back cartoon] when the old man takes the cat for a ride into the mountains on a train trolley. Along the way, he runs over or passes several women tied to the train tracks, unfazed. But when he spots a ''cow'' tied to the tracks...
{{quote|Old Man: [[Curse Cut Short|"What the ffff-"]]}}
* Citizens in ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' who notice the larger stuff the boys do never seem to find it worthy enough for the newspaper. Candace was pretty unlucky no one ever wanted to talk to her parents about what the boys had done, especially in [[The Movie]], where ''the entire town witnesses a robot takeover and never discusses it again''.
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