History JustForFun / HowToStopTheDeusExMachina

*** ''Example:'' In the fable of ''Literature/TheSixSwans'' or ''The Swan Brothers'', the only way their sister can cure them of their [[BalefulPolymorph transformation into swans]] is to weave them sweaters while being completely silent. This leads the prince who loves her into being susceptible to her wicked stepmother convincing him she doesn't love him.

* ''Example:'' In ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'', the heroes and ThoseTwoBadGuys run into each other in a marketplace. Normally, they would have fought to the death, but the [[TruceZone market truce]] meant the bad guys had to be civil or face death by mob.

FridgeLogic is a cruel mistress and deadly force. It can destroy WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief in seconds, as a viewer realizes the heroes (or villains) could easily and quickly succeed if they took a certain action within their power.

** ''Example:'' {{Superman}}, for all his unstoppable power, can fail to foil a crime because he will not ever use lethal force due to his respect for life and a latent fear of abusing his powers.

** ''Example:'' [[Comicbook/TheAvengers The Absorbing Man]] can turn his body into anything he wants, but his low IQ and limited imagination means he rarely does anything more than turn into a hard substance to bash the heroes.

* Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'s Miroku has what is basically a miniature black hole in his hand which can suck in and destroy even ridiculously powerful beings. For no reason besides the fact that he's not the main character, he is poisoned if he sucks in venomous insects or toxic gas. It is also established that if he uses this too much, it will eventually swallow him whole. Immediately after he joins the main cast the villain calls up a swarm of giant wasps that protect basically everything that has to do with the main plot.
* Lina Inverse from LightNovel/{{Slayers}} can perform the Giga Slave, a spell which is literally capable of destroying ANYTHING, including gods. The reason she doesn't perform it more often? Because destroying anything is just a small subset of what the spell is truly capable of doing, which is [[ApocalypseHow destroying everything.]] This is generally handled fairly well in the story, with the spell and Linas ability to cast it introduced surprisingly early on, and it's use is a central plot element to the first three seasons. [[spoiler: In season one, after she performs it, a [[CloningBlues Copy Rezo]] wants it cast at him so that he can prove he's stronger than the original. She manages to find an alternative solution, however. In season two, the entire point of the events of the story was to manipulate Lina into casting the spell so that one of the settings strongest demons can bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. In season three, it is never actually cast, but a large portion of the season is built around finding another way to defeat the BigBad that isn't nearly so risky to existence. Even as they are preparing their 'safer' alternative, it's still mentioned that if their plan doesn't show any sign of working, she's ready to cast the spell as a last resort.]]

* {{Superman}}: Why else is [[KryptoniteIsEverywhere kryptonite everywhere]]?
* [[Comicbook/{{Watchmen}} Dr. Manhattan]]: It just so happens that the one [[TheOmnipotent almost completely omnipotent character]] in the story is [[AllPowerfulBystander also almost completely apathetic]], so he spends his time looking at elemental particles and doing whatever the government tells him instead of, say, secretly defusing all nuclear weapons in the world to avert the threatening apocalypse that fuels the plot. Also, the only things that are mentioned as actually beyond his powers to do are to stop ''all'' Soviet nuclear missiles if they were fired at the USA at once, and to see and reveal the conclusion of the plot clearly.

[[folder:Fan Fics]]
* In Yudkowsky's ''FanFic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'', there is an excellent example of an external geographic limitation: it is explicitly stated that the direction of time cannot be changed inside Azkaban. This prevents any FridgeLogic concerning why Harry doesn't just use his Time-Turner to get out of a bad situation, as he had already demonstrated a willingness to do on numerous previous occasions.

* In ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Twilight Sparkle is the personal student of Princess Celestia, the ruler of the realm and essentially a physical goddess. Any trouble Twilight cannot handle on her own could potentially be taken care of simply by contacting her teacher. However, due to her deep-seated fear of disappointing Celestia, she never resorts to this, and instead tries to do everything by herself.

Peer pressure, social responsibility and [[ThickerThanWater family duty]] all serve as ways to force a character to do (or not do) something. A sufficiently honor bound character would follow the lead of the community and its laws, but a rebel can be hemmed in by the ObstructiveBureaucrat, the distrust of AllOfTheOtherReindeer, and fight against a populace that is getting slaughtered. Outside enforcement like police, bosses, criminals or the army can dissuade certain actions as a way of threatening heroes into complying.

* '''Heroes:''' Even {{antihero}}es who are fine with killing probably require some kind of prompt to do so, like a villain crossing the MoralEventHorizon or a [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality personal threshold]]. A villain who is wise to these may well skirt "over" the heroes radar to avoid this treatment, or manipulate the hero into facing enemies he will not willingly harm. Providing said heroes with a MoralityPet (and the hero with a reason to ''listen'' to their pet) applies here as well.

* ''Fanfic/WhiteSheep'': The Grimm are an endless army of {{Perpetual Motion Monster}}s who can be controlled by a single individual with CompleteImmortality. How does that army keep from solving every problem when the heroes have it? The one in control just wants peace. ''Actual'' peace, not "kill everyone who disagrees with me" peace. An unstoppable army that the whole world hates is actively detrimental to that.

!!MacGuffins

** ''Example:'' Hannibal Lecter from the film version of [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal]] had such a powerful obsession (love?) with agent Starling that he couldn't bear to harm her, resorting to cutting off his own hand to escape capture rather than hers.

** It's also very well-established that while he's got senses no one else has, he's not omniscient and many of his senses aren't particularly any better than anyone else's. So in the aforementioned nuke idea, he'd have to _find_ all of the world's nukes, and sneaking up to do them all before someone panicked and launched the rest would be possibly MORE difficult for him than others, since he's a blue-glowing giant and can only be in four or so places at once that we see.

*** ''Example:'' In the fable of the ''Six Swans'' or ''The Swan Brothers'', the only way their sister can cure them of their [[BalefulPolymorph transformation into swans]] is to weave them sweaters while being completely silent. This leads the prince who loves her into being susceptible to her wicked stepmother convincing him she doesn't love him.

** '''External:''' ItOnlyWorksOnce, it's dangerous PsychoSerum or ToxicPhlebotinum, there were NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup, it was a DisposableSuperheroMaker, and in general making it PowerAtAPrice. Be careful to avoid ReedRichardsIsUseless if you can.

*** ''Example:'' Perseus in the 2010 ''ClashOfTheTitans'' won't use either his powers ''or'' a divinely gifted sword because he hates the gods for having killed his adoptive family. Only when his lover Io is mortally wounded does he accept his divine heritage and use it.

** ''Example:'' [[TrinityBlood Father Abel Nightroad]] is a [[FoodChainOfEvil vampire eater]], and could easily mop the floor with most anyone. However, he enjoys being treated like a human and limiting collateral damage, so he usually accomplishes missions from behind a veil of ObfuscatingStupidity.

* ''Example:'' In ''XxxHolic'', Yuko is a very, ''very'' powerful mage, but due to a complicated system of EquivalentExchange, she can't help Watanuki with his problems without massively indebting him to her.

*** ''Example:'' In ''RanmaOneHalf'', both Ranma and Akane are too stubborn to honestly admit their romantic feelings for each other, and prone to (almost willfully) misreading situations to think the worst of each other.

If the author knows what they're doing, they'll take pains to point out why the heroes (or villains) cannot or will not take that step. Stopping the DeusExMachina can be simple or complex, and may deal with [[DoesntWorkOnWood physical limitations]] or mental, emotional, or moral ones (even ''technically'' laudable ones, such as "[[ThouShaltNotKill refuses to take a life]]" -- though in practice that's [[TheFarmerAndTheViper not such a good thing]] [[UngratefulBastard all the time]]).

If the author knows what they're doing, they'll take pains to point out why the heroes (or villains) cannot or will not take that step. Stopping the DeusExMachina can be simple or complex, and may deal with physical limitations or mental, emotional, or moral ones (even ''technically'' laudable ones, such as "[[ThouShaltNotKill refuses to take a life]]" -- though in practice that's [[TheFarmerAndTheViper not such a good thing]] [[UngratefulBastard all the time]]).