History Main / AWizardDidIt

* This is more or less how Chaos Control in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' is explained (or lack thereof). Is it time travel, super speed, or teleportation? The games sure as hell don't know.

* In VideoGame/GenshinImpact, Albedo attributes Alice's ability to [[TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat predict what her audience would say when they listened to a recording]] to her omnipotent status as one of Teyvat's strongest magic users.

* [[TropeNamer The trope name]] comes from Lucy Lawless (''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'')'s guest appearance on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' in 1999. Flanders also invokes this once, when one of his kids asks something.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. For once, there's a perfectly sound, scientific explanation for the plot - a thousand-year-old broadcast being intercepted by an alien society a thousand light-years away - but Fry immediately interrupts the explanation with "Magic. Got it."

** Medieval Mode is an alternate game mode in which players are restricted to using "medieval" weapons and speak in YeOldeButcheredEnglish. Why? Because the Soldier angered a wizard. This doesn't explain the fact that the castle in which the game takes place is actually a high-tech spy base in disguise. Heck, the Wiki page for said map even links to this very page!

** And way earlier, it gets mentioned by name [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/04/08/episode-405-lets-face-it-hed-starve/ here]].
* ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' uses this trope for [[spoiler:how Paris clone is possible]] [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1929.html here]], and makes a reference to this page too.
** And again [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2027.html here]]

** Referenced again (and averted) [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1049.html here]]. The CoolAirship has a few enchantments on it, but the actual flight mechanics are plain old physics. (One could argue that it is still played straight, though; without the enchantment that reduced its weight, presumably the ship would be too heavy to fly.)
** In [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0322.html this strip]], regarding the owlbear, V asks the obvious follow-up question, namely "But ''why'' did a wizard do it?"

* Specifically mentioned in this ''Webcomic/PokemonX'' [[http://pokemonx.comicgenesis.com/d/20031215.html strip]].

* Used in [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/080308 this]] ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' strip parodying Harry Potter to explain why [[TimeMachine Time-Turners]] can no longer be used for a quick solution to everything.

* In the AD&D-based ''Monster Manual Comics'' by Lore Sjoburg, [[http://badgods.com/owlbear.html]] the strip on owlbears has the crew meet the actual "insane wizard" most of the peculiar early D&D monsters were blamed on -- plus a guess as to his motives for doing so.

* Used in ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' to explain George's ContractualImmortality [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/030824c]]

* ''Webcomic/RPGWorld'' used it to [[http://rpgworldcomic.com/d/20031219.html explain cheat codes]].

* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', Doctor Robotnik complains about how everything the Chaos Emeralds do is explained away by them being Chaos Emeralds. Snivelly points out that he uses them all the time, and Robotnik replies along the bounds that just because he knows they work doesn't mean that he has to like it.

* ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' uses several variations on the theme. For instance, the StaticStunGuns Warehouse Agents carry were invented by Nikola Tesla (a ''very'' standard way of explaining late-era SteamPunk tech) and the DieselPunk-looking iPhones they carry were invented by Philo Farnsworth (one of several people credited with inventing the television).

** Many published adventure modules use this as a justification as to why certain monsters show up in places they otherwise wouldn't be, especially back in the day when providing the players a fun challenge was usually more important than having a realistic plot. Why are 12 fire giants at the bottom of this dank swamp cave, all crammed into a hallway barely big enough to fit them all? A powerful wizard teleported them in, of course, don't worry about it.

'''The Doctor:''' You know fairy tales -- a good wizard tricked it."\\

* ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' uses several variations on the theme. For instance, the electric {{Stun Gun}}s Warehouse Agents carry were invented by Nikola Tesla (a ''very'' standard way of explaining late-era SteamPunk tech) and the DieselPunk-looking iPhones they carry were invented by Philo Farnsworth (one of several people credited with inventing the television).

* The two common explanations for the many inconsistencies that reside in the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' Universe and backstory are either that Keine ate it, or that Yukari was messing around with the borders of space and time again.

* Referenced by [[SmartGuy Simmons]] in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' after trying to explain teleporters to the crew.

[[DescribeTopicHere No need to describe this trope, it's just magic.]]

* By the fans of the ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'' this is called ''[[TheFairFolk A Fae]] [[TheTrickster Did It!]]''[[note]](because of the [[TangledFamilyTree magic family tree]] this actually includes [[WitchSpecies wizards]])[[/note]]... they are right most of the time... Even more so because [[WildMagic magic]] seems to [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality run on patterns, story and trope]] in the verse!

*** The novelization says that all men find BaldWoman, Ilea attractive because her species give off pheromones.

* ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'': the series features a MindScrew of a TemporalParadox, but also features not one, not two, but THREE [[RealityWarper reality warping characters.]]
* Played for laughs in the [[{{Hentai}} pornographic manga]] ''Manga/{{Sei Sou Tsui Dan Sha}}'': [[spoiler:So how was it possible that the main character's penis could be detached from his body, and reattached to anyone else?]] Magic. [[spoiler:His mom was a witch]] this whole time. Yes, [[spoiler:he]] knew about this, but didn't think to tell anyone [[spoiler:until she mentioned it herself.]] And yes, all this is divulged in exactly one page and [[spoiler:[[AlphaBitch Mari]] [[OnlySaneWoman Itsuki]]]] is not taking it well.

** People acting OutOfCharacter these days is blamed on Deathstroke's mind altering drugs, primarily because this was the canon (via {{Retcon}}) explanation for Cassandra Cain Batgirl's poorly executed FaceHeelTurn after ''Infinite Crisis''.
*** "Deathstroke's drugs" are the DC equivalent of Marvels "Skrull imposter".

** Part of the problem is how the The Speed Force has been repeatedly mis-written and mischaracterised (many writers choosing to write it as a scientific anomaly and energy source, ignoring its mystical nature), and exploited for any quick plot that was needed, until it became so vaguely defined that many fans got sick of it.

** ComicBook/{{Thanos}} lookalikes are often used in the same manner. After Squirrel Girl (hilariously) defeats him and Uatu states that it is definitely the real Thanos, it's later revealed that Thanos can create lookalikes which can fool even Uatu. Or so he claims.

* ''Fanfic/GrowingDaylight'': When Claire muses about how it is possible that they could conceive a child when she is a human woman and Jim is half-troll, Toby responds by saying that magic does not make sense in-general so they shouldn't think too hard on the "how".

* ''FanFic/ThisBites'': Whenever people react to Soundbite being able to speak, Cross is able to erase any shock just by saying "Devil Fruit." This soon applies for pretty much any weird occurrence (like Brook), and many people often give a deadpan response to anyone who should be inured to the weirdness by now.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'', the movie apparently takes place over several months, judging by the change of seasons while Belle is at the castle. This creates the problem of just how far the castle is from the village - ranging from several day's travel (the length of time Maurice spends in the forest on his first journey there) to several hours (this is the time during which Maurice is returned to the village) and then a matter of minutes hard ride (the mob's assault on the castle followed by Belle's race to get there). It's also never explained why no one in the village knows the castle exists when it's apparently so nearby. Even taking into account the castle being hidden, magic is the only explanation for these oddities. The 2017 live-action remake [[AuthorsSavingThrow goes out of its way]] fill these plot holes: it explicitly reduces Belle's stay at the castle to just five days, removes the changing seasons and instead places the castle in EndlessWinter as part of the curse, and explains that the villagers (including Mrs Potts's husband) had their memories of the castle erased.

** The actual reason is an aversion, since there's a genuine plot-logic reason: if Gandalf uses his full power, Sauron will [[OrcusOnHisThrone have an incentive]] to take a personal hand in the fight—and he's a stronger [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Maia]] than Gandalf, so he'll win. Having been forced to take a personal hand, Sauron would then defeat all Gandalf's allies (who would be screwed without him anyway), and, with his schedule freed up, might notice a couple of Hobbits stumbling around at the foot of Mount Doom.

*** Abrams says that the reason why technology is more advanced in the past than in the future is because the shuttles evacuating the Kelvin scanned Nero's ship and then studied the futuristic technology.

*** ''Film/{{Solo}}'' says that Kessel is surrounded by the ''Akkadese Maelstrom'', a region containing dangerous gases, debris, gravity wells and an EldritchAbomination. The Kessel Run is a safe spiral path around the planet that's maintained by ancient space buoys according to the novelization. Han takes a shortcut across the dangerous region, therefore doing the run in 12 parsecs.
** To explain why [[NoEndorHolocaust the ewoks weren't wiped out by the exploding Death Star]] in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'';

*** When exploring Starkiller Base, Chewbacca had some kind of phlebotinum that stopped First Order sensors noticing them.

* Parodied in ''Literature/DonQuixote''. Whether his beloved Dulcinea appears to be a garlic-chewing peasant, or our hero is transported from his inn chamber to fight a giant (who is actually a passel of wineskins hung above his bed), Don Quixote believes it is due to malevolent enchanters. In fact there is no magic occurring and Don Quixote is quite deluded when he believes such things. This trope is also the excuse that Don Quixote's housekeeper and the priest come up with when they burn down and seal up his library in an attempt to cure him. The book is making fun of earlier works that used this trope.
* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'', most of the inconsistencies and ambiguities in the Discworld timeline (as well as some of the SchizoTech) are implied to be the result of the first Glass Clock [[TimeCrash shattering history]], or side effects of the History Monks cleaning up afterwards. They describe how they moved "excess time" to where it wouldn't be noticed (such as deep in the ocean) and likewise moved time from such places when required. The fact that most characters fail to notice the inconsistencies (like, for example, Ankh-Morpork having a 16th century Shakespearean theater across the river from a 19th century opera house, and the same characters appearing in two books set nearly a century apart) is explained by the fact that [[WeirdnessCensor most people only notice what they expect to notice]].

* Literature/LandOfOz: in the overall Oz chronicles, many of the witches [[{{mythopoeia}} fulfill the same niche]] as [[TheMaker creator gods and godlings]] in most other fantasy universes and many real world religions, particularly the [[FantasyPantheon Good Witches of the North and South]].

* In addition to allowing the two to travel through time in ''Literature/TimeCat'', Gareth's [[CatsAreMagic cat powers]] allow Jason to blend in to his temporal and cultural surroundings mostly seamlessly. It gives him TranslatorMicrobes, adapts his clothes to current fashions and presumably keeps him from contracting common pathogens of the times and dying of salmonella or something before he gets back home.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', the main character (who is an actual wizard) gets this as an explaination of how the original Authrian Merlin was able to create something. Dresden asks Bob The Skull how Merlin was able to create a magical construct which violates numerous major rules of magic (it dates back to prehistoric times while most such constructs last only a few months, and just building it required Merlin to be in five different times all at once, for example). Bob, despite being one of the most knowledable individuals in the entire series, is only able to answer that the construction was obviously impossibe, but Merlin went ahead and did it anyways.

* Attempted as an in-universe explanation in ''Literature/TheMalloreon'': a sailor has a leg that is painfully sensitive to changes in the weather to the point where he's employed as a storm-predictor. When he fails to predict a squall and his employers complains, he ''literally'' suggests that a wizard might've conjured the storm. His boss thinks it's a lame excuse. [[spoiler: It's implied that actually something much more powerful than a wizard that's conjured the storm.]]

* In ''Series/CasteloRaTimBum'', this is the standard explaination for anything unusual that happens in the series. It is about a wizard boy, after all.
* ''[[Series/WonderWoman1975 Wonder Woman]]'': The magic lasso of truth, the shape changing boomerang tiara, the belt of strength, why Wonder Woman lost her powers when she left Paradise Island, or even the basic physics of how 100 pound women could [[SuperStrength lift 20+ times their body weight and more]] these were all magical and never adequately explained.

** Tzeentch did it in normal ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', too. He's been working carefully for ~40,000 years and it still doesn't make any damn sense. This is because his "master plans" actually have no purpose -- their elements are nonsensical, self-contradictory and -- as befitting a Chaos God -- utterly chaotic. If he wins then he can't plot anymore and he can't exist without plotting. So planning is part of his nature, but no-one said his plans have to make sense or actually accomplish anything.

* The French have a phrase to express it : "Ta gueule, c'est magique" (Shut up, that's magical). It often pops up when a GameMaster is asked questions about something in his campaign. It's often shortened to TGCM or TGM. In English it's SUIM (shut up--it's magic).

* In the Galactic Champions Sourcebook of the TabletopGame/{{Champions}} Universe, it's revealed that a high amount ambient magic is required for superpowers to work, otherwise their abilities are really impossible. This also reveals that an experiment by Nazi wizards caused the boon of Superheroes that exist in their universe.

* This trope is in full effect in [[JustForFun/TheZerothLawOfTropeExamples Shakespeare's]] last play: ''Theatre/TheTempest''. The plot begins with [[EccentricMentor Prospero]], a wizard, conjuring a storm which bring most of the other characters to his (Prospero's) island. From there on, nearly every plot development stems from some further act of magic by the wizard. Some LampshadeHanging also occurs, as the script repeatedly comments on magic being the solution to inconsistencies in the plot.

* In the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' franchise, there are countless areas, characters, items, etc., with absurd physics that remain unexplained to this day, causing many -- if not most -- fans to just call this. The franchise has a literal wizard/sorcerer named Kamek, Bowser's court magician and presumably responsible for all of the physics-breaking shenanigans. The manual for the first game states Bowser is a sorceror utilizing black magic. Princess Peach was also explained to be a magician in that game's manual, and unlike Bowser this pops up every now and then in more recent games.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonFable'' In the Gate Keeper Quest Artix uses this to hand wave [[spoiler: the fact that you have Zorbak's ID Card so you can get into the Necropolis. To clarify the many problems that came up:]]

** ''[[VideoGame/MetroidOtherM Other M]]'' attempts to subvert this by doing away with with the Chozo. It ended up creating a whole lot of {{plot hole}}s without an easy and accessible {{Handwave}}, leaving fans to latch on the next best thing and saying Adam did it [[spoiler:despite the fact he dies]], or the Deleter, or [[spoiler:Mother Brain]].

** The contacts Crimson and Indigo, who's missions deal with the black ops Malta Group, will often tell you that you need to go somewhere for a mission to save someone or something, but the reasons why this needs to be done are classified, so they can't tell you why. They can take three paragraphs to say this too.

** It also helps that the two {{Universe Compendium}}s are (in universe) written by Akyuu or Aya, both of whom are something of an UnreliableNarrator.

** Its also implied that she learnt some of this from the Bahro, who are likewise capable of breaking all manner of the things that the D'ni claimed were impossible. This is best exemplified in that they are shown to be capable of writing a word, say "rain", which ''[[RealityWarper causes it to then begin raining]]''.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series, its revealed in the chronological first entry that Dracula became a vampire and started all his shenanigans because he obtained (or created?) [[PlotDevice the Crimson Stone.]] This is all fine and dandy; however, while the [[WordofGod director]] covered a few unexplained aspects of the series, there have been no attempts made to officially explain why human malcontent and evil revives him whenever he is offed (or why this evidently happens like clockwork every 100 years, though he is "prematurely" revived about every 15 minutes), why he is in command of the Angel of Death[[note]](The Grim Reaper [[FaceHeelTurn betrayed one vampire lord guy]] and gave his soul to Drac, evidently because he has the Crimson Stone, but nothing has ever stated why the Stone -- if that's the reason at all -- makes Death Drac's [[HoYay "confidant"]])[[/note]], why the titular Castle of the series vanishes and reappears whenever Drac is out of his coffin, why he has apparent command over all the demons of hell and mythological creatures from every corner of the world, why he can enter what one game introduced as [[PlotDevice "The Chaos Realm"]] and exactly what this has to do with him (fan speculation is that it's the source of his powahs), ''or'' how exactly he went from being just a really powerful, pissed-off vampire to becoming the [[TheAntiChrist "Dark Lord"]]. We are left to assume that the Crimson Stone did all of it; while crafted through alchemy, it may as well be wizardry.

* In ''VideoGame/BattleMaster'' glitches, player absence, cheating, and other instances where out of character events effect the game it is usually hand waved as some mysterious magical incident.

** The comic also refrences the term multiple times in [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2002/01/15/episode-108-garland-just-dont-get-it/ this]] strip
** Essentially, once Black Mage stops being a CosmicPlaything and Red Mage grows some sort of logical intelligence, these two will mostly likely become the new Wizards That Did It for this universe. The Universe is probably very unhappy with this arrangement.

** [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2011-05-19 This one's]] even better. "Why yes, the [[{{Fireballs}} magical fireball of death]] did [[NoOntologicalInertia stop mid-air]] while traveling at a fantastic speed without exploding. It's a magical fireball of death. Are you you REALLY going to tell it what it can and cannot do?"

* In the comic ''Webcomic/SkinDeep'' the characters transformation from human to their natural forms are explained as "Magic. Strong magic". Interesting case as the characters themselves admit they have no idea how that works. Asking them to explain the process is like asking someone how a television works. They know how it works, they just don't know how it works.

* Lampshaded in ''Webcomic/SparklingGenerationValkyrieYuuki'' when the main character realised sie had just accepted "Magic" as an explanation for something odd that had just happenned.

* The ''Literature/BinderOfShame''. The aptly-named KillerDM Psycho Dave just had a player character hit by a random magical effect in his sleep just to mess with the player, and said character woke up to find his head had been turned into a giant piece of broccoli. When challenged to explain how and why, Dave replied "It's magic, I don't have to explain it."

* Parodied in this now famous cartoon by Sidney Harris: http://www.sciencecartoonsplus.com/pages/gallery.php where a scientist writes out some insanely complicated equation and puts "then a miracle occurs" in middle of it.

[[folder:Western Animation ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/KevinSpencer''. When Kevin dies, his parents ask the wizard living in their back yard to bring him back. Percy repays the wizard by telling him to get off his property.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' episode "The Frycook What Came From All Of Space," Sizzlor reveals that, after escaping his banishment on planet Foodcourtia, "The Foodening," a 20 year mob scene that increases the planet's gravitational pull, had come and gone. Zim asks how than can be, since he hasn't been gone nearly that long, to which Sizzlor sheepishly replies, "There's a... [[TimeyWimeyBall time... warp]]... [[BuffySpeak thing involved]], I dunno...."
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. For once, there's a perfectly sound, scientific explanation for the plot - a thousand year old broadcast being intercepted by an alien society a thousand light-years away - but Fry immediately interrupts the explanation with "Magic. Got it."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': "The Finale" implies that the credits to the show are actually a magical device which the GeniusLoci setting uses to erase unwanted events from the timeline. This provides an easy way to explain any continuity errors.

** Archmedes, Heron (of Alexandria), Copernicus, Roger Bacon etc., or you could even just say it was developed by an unnamed Babylonian/Hellenic/Arab/Chinese genius whose name is lost in the mists of time. The last one is the most justified and rational way to do it, as we'd naturally know more about the inventions and limitations of real and famous historical people, and there must have been any number of real instances (within reason) in history of this kind of thing occurring.

-->'''Mathemagician:''' Prepare to marvel at the mysteries of the universe as I make this remainder disappear. ''(starts doing calculations on a blackboard)''
-->'''Lisa:''' But 7 goes into 28 four times.
-->'''Mathemagician:''' Uhh... this is a ''magic'' 7.

*** ''Literature/FateOfTheJedi'' explains why there are so many [[UnrealisticBlackHole Unrealistic Black Holes]] in one place. They were created by SufficientlyAdvancedAliens to imprison an EldritchAbomination.

* This was essentially the origin of the AlienSpaceBats trope in the AlternateHistory community -- it was originally intended as a joke, implying that the only way certain implausible/ill-thought-out alternate timelines could happen was by some obscure outside force interfering in human history, like intervention by SufficientlyAdvancedAliens.

* ''Fanfic/TheNextFrontier'': A footnote explaining that [[VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram the Kerbals]] have a team sport that bears an uncanny resemblance to the game of UsefulNotes/{{cricket}} attributes this bizarre coincidence to "[[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens hyperintelligent pan-dimensional beings]] with too much time on their hands".

* Franchise/TheFlash is hilariously bad with this. He has the Speed Force, an alternate dimension that surrounds the other dimensions and is the location of time and speed; also somehow Barry makes more of it whenever he runs. Basically, the Speed Force is used to explain anything or as a crutch to have writers get themselves out of holes in a way that is plausible enough; [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands including stealing kinetic energy, not having to eat millions of Calories, phasing through objects, and so much more.]] A lot of these are also canon now too.

* This trope is in full effect in [[JustForFun/ZerothLawOfTropeExamples Shakespeare's]] last play: ''Theatre/TheTempest''. The plot begins with [[EccentricMentor Prospero]], a wizard, conjuring a storm which bring most of the other characters to his (Prospero's) island. From there on, nearly every plot development stems from some further act of magic by the wizard. Some LampshadeHanging also occurs, as the script repeatedly comments on magic being the solution to inconsistencies in the plot.