History Main / AcceptableBreaksFromReality

* CrashEqualsImmediateExplosion \\
Devices containing gazoline (cars, helicopters) always explode immeditalely when they crash.

* Crash=ImmediateExplosion \\

* CrashMeansImmediateExplosion \\

A character can get as close as they want to lava - as long as they aren't actually ''touching'' it, they'll be perfectly fine.

In a game, if you fire one bullet and reload, you'll be shown reloading a full magazine. but will still only have reloaded one bullet.

When you want to see that it's dark, but the audience still wants to ''see'' in the dark.

They pretty much never make sense storywise... they're just to keep the player from getting frustrated.

There is no "maximum range" for weapons in space - but that wouldn't make for gripping space battles and, if it's video games, system performance will take a big hit if it has to track that many objects that are not in the play field anymore.

Some weapons may have a minimum range, which it is a lot less effective or unable to fire at targets at all before this distance. Having such powerful weapon without a minimum range can be Game Breaking, since it would have little weakness.

Virtually all Sci Fi space ships have some form of artificial gravity. How is rarely explained.

To the extent that litigation is dramatic, almost none of it happens in the courtroom. But the way it actually plays out, i.e. trading written motions over several months, does not exactly make for gripping television.

What's a medkit doing here anyway?

Fictional characters don't have to do mundane things like eat, sleep, or pee unless the story dictates it.

When geography of countries and buildings in sequels do not resemble their previous incarnations.

Characters can hide behind anything and be protected from projectiles, even if they could, in theory, penetrate whatever is being used for cover.

In sneaking games, enemies will be very attentive to your noises but not to any others.

For some reason, the one thing that can kill a villain is smack in the middle of his lair and/or fighting arena.

You're perfectly fine with 87 pounds of weight, but add one more item and you suddenly can't move.

When you give orders to your troops, they are transmitted instantly to every soldier.

In {{MMORPG}}s, a quest item is supposedly "unique", yet there's one for every player of the game.

You will be able to see the path of bullets, to assist in aiming or following the action.

Enemies flash colours when hit.

The protagonist's attacks will never damage their friends, and enemy attacks won't damage their allies, unless done specifically that way.

Nobody bats an eye if you bring your InfinityPlusOneSword or {{BFG}} to a private audience with an important person. If they do, it is ''always'' a trap.

When you pick up a medkit or use a potion, you get healed ''instantly'' - no medicine application, no bandaids, no waiting.

When you want to see that it's dark, but the audience still wants to ''see in'' the dark.

Because ''real'' hacking is actually quite boring, would become worthless after the technology is exposed, plus would be a bit boring in a VideoGame.

Because the fact the main character would end up [[ShellShockedVeteran too damaged and insane to ever live a normal life]] after the events of the average videogame isn't a very happy ending.

In games, you can carry an absolutely enormous amount of stuff; who knows where you actually keep it.

Enemies in {{RPG}}s are given statistics based on how powerful you are expected to be at that point, not how strong that enemy would be based on common sense.

A flashlight which never runs out of batteries or needs to be recharged, except if the plot demands... or if it's a gameplay mechanic.

Game characters' equipment won't show up visually; they may be wearing Diamond Armor, but it looks like the same old {{Stripperiffic}} costume to me...

You can easily just blow up security cameras or otherwise make them useless and nobody will be alarmed by it. Unless there's a DangerouslyGenreSavvy supervisor present, at best it will be dismissed as a temporary glitch to not worry about.

When you buy something, it shows up instantly, or at least much faster than in RealLife.

When you clear a game stage, all the troubles, death traps, remaining enemies etc. are completely ignored, because You Won!

* IronButtmonkey \\

A work takes place in a foreign land, and the children have American accents.

Playing music REALLY LOUD at someone won't cause hearing damage.

Because being hit again and again without being able to retaliate is ''really irritating''.

A more believable scenario would be getting rewarded ''for'' killing the monsters, but it'd simply take too long to go back to the person and get rewarded every time you did it. Plus, who cares?! [[ShapedLikeItself Money's money!]]

You have no flashlight, so just start blindly firing your weapons and follow the muzzle flash!

Only people that are relevant to the plot or a {{sidequest}} will be blessed with names. Everyone else will be {{nameless|Narrative}} or be referred to with [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep generic or descriptive titles.]]

Once you raise a stat, it will never go down again because it would get ''annoying''.

In a game DialogueTree, people will not remember when you pick the "wrong" choice; you'll just get to choose again.

If (or once) you know [[SuperNotDrowningSkills how to swim]], you will do it perfectly and for as long as you like.

The game allows the player to [[CapturedSuperEntity capture and control creatures]] that a [[KidHero preteen hero]] has absolutely no business owning.

In a game, if you fire one bullet and reload, you will be shown reloading a full magazine but will still only have reloaded one bullet.

Clothing and armour can be worn by anyone, regardless of its source or the wearer's size or sex.

A work of ScienceFiction or {{Fantasy}} has only one religion (TheChurch) in it; furthermore, there are never any factions of it, or different interpretations of its belief.

Drivers can safely ignore all the rules of the road, often with no more consequence than, at worst, a bystander making a rude hand gesture and/or being profane towards the driver.

Sometimes from a developmental point of view, showing all 3-8+ party members on-screen at all times means issues such as them taking up a lot of space in the area, and having their pathfinding programmed without OffscreenTeleportation.

Whenever you see a bookshelf, there will never be more than one book (and often one ''line'') that you can read; so that you don't spend an hour looking for something relevant.

You do not have to break off the action to rest, eat, or sleep in-world, though your characters may abruptly decide to do so in a cutscene.

Having everyone speak like they would in real life would just make a reader think that [[RougeAnglesOfSatin they never bothered]] [[WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma to check their work]] or just make it hard for the reader to understand what's being said.

Not only for other characters to catch up to the plot, but ''also'' so the ''Viewer'' is on the same page as the characters. Sometimes literally.

A seemingly arbitrary prize for an in-universe action, with no explanation as to who gives out the prize or why.

A war or other contest involves struggles for regions which are wholly in the possession of one side or the other, are treated as "spaces" for movement, and can't be divided up in any way.

Yeah, it's totally unrealistic, but ''man'' it looks awesome. A lot of {{Awesome Moment}}s require this Trope to get the audience to stand and cheer.

Some stuff that's PlayedForLaughs is funny ''only'' because it's ''not real'', namely VideoGameCrueltyPotential or ComedicSociopathy. In RealLife? DudeNotFunny.

Gravity is only applied to some things; others are totally immune.

The inability of [[TheGunslinger a long-range weapon user]], especially [[{{Villains}} a villain]], to use said weapon ''at long range''.

In the entire in-work world, there is only one kind of entertainment or only one city where you can find it.

In video games, many things have distinctive sounds, to the point where you can be tipped off by what's happening just by listening for them.

In VideoGames, no matter how high your strength, speed, etc. goes, you still will not be able to, for example, [[InsurmountableWaistHighFence lift that tree in your way]].

Nobody is ever bothered by extremely loud noises and explosions and things, unless it serves the plot.

VideoGame characters can breathe underwater for infinite amounts of time.

Micromanaging or representing a military force on the scale of most modern armed forces would likely destroy either one's patience or one's video card.

The villain won't put his dastardly plan into motion until you get there, no matter how long you spent inbreeding fluffy ostriches in the meantime. Wouldn't be fair to just realistically railroad you.

Instead of anything historically accurate, there is a tree of inventions that you use Research Points to buy your way through, so each tech has an oft-rigid set of prerequisite techs that don't always make sense.

Cities and towns are much, much smaller than they should be for sustainability.

Normally, people do not see themselves in their own visual recall, unless some mirror was there showing themselves. Can be used very effecively.

Sleeping at an inn is guaranteed to instantly cure all wounds and even death!

You wear your armor everywhere. You eat with it, you sleep with it, you take baths in it.

A character can drive any vehicle they come across, without any training.

There is only one type of poison, and generally one type of antidote for it. Saves a spot in the inventory.

You've slowed down time, and while enemy bullets will crawl like molasses, yours go at normal speed.

A thief can pick the pockets of a giant direwolf in the middle of an all-out brawl, and come away with an eight-foot claymore.

Want to sell that suit of armor at a grocery store? They'll take it!
* YouALLLookFamiliar \\

-->''In this kind of story the pseudo-scientific apparatus should be taken simply as a machine in the sense which the word bore for the Neo-classical critics. The most superficial appearance of plausibility--the merest sop to our critical intelect--will do.''

* ArtMajorPhysics \\

Because who honestly wants to realistically calculate relative market values and exchange rates?
* Guns with infinite numbers of bullets.

Cities and towns are much, much smaller than they should be for sustainability.

Normally, people do not see themselves in their own visual recall, unless some mirror was there showing themselves. Can be used very effecively.
* Toilets - and why hardly any character in film, stage or TV ever needs to visit one. "A HANDBAG?? Sorry, must have a pee..."

In RealTimeStrategy games, infantrymen are ridiculously large when compared to vehicles and buildings.

A thief can pick the pockets of a giant direwolf in the middle of an all-out brawl, and come away with an eight-foot claymore.

In VideoGames, when you're knocked down, you can't be damaged until you get back up, because it's ''quite'' annoying when it's averted.
* HardHead \\
Dying from a head injury would make characters too vulnerable. When it's done in a video game or movie that has a vulnerable protagonist, then that's great. However, it would be out of place in games like ''VideoGame/{{Tony Hawks Pro Skater}}'' and ''VideoGame/SeriousSam''. It would be out of place in movies like Rambo.

-->''In this kind of story the pseudo-scientific apparatus should be taken simply as a machine in the sense which the word bore for the Neo-classical critics. The most superficial appearance of plausibility-the merest sop to our critical intelect-will do.''

The simple life is indeed simplified for games where farming is one of the objectives; the [[ThisIsReality real life complexities]] of farming would take the fun out of it otherwise.

Of course, different people have different tolerances for the balance between "abstraction" and "simulation," which means that some media make conscious and deliberate efforts to avert at least some of these tropes. [[SimulationGame Those sorts]] [[FunForSome of things]], however, tend to cater toward a rather niche crowd. Even then, there's still a small measure of abstraction simply to prevent things from getting too tedious.

Of course, different people have different tolerances for the balance between "abstraction" and "simulation," which means that some games make conscious and deliberate efforts to avert at least some of these tropes. [[SimulationGame Those sorts of games]], however, tend to cater toward a rather niche crowd. Even then, there's still a small measure of abstraction simply to prevent things from getting too tedious.

Of course, different people have different tolerances for the balance between "abstraction" and "simulation," which means that some games make conscious and deliberate efforts to avert at least some of these tropes. [[SimulationGame Those sorts of games]], however, tend to cater toward a rather niche crowd. Even then, however, there's still a small measure of abstraction simply to prevent things from getting too tedious.

An object that either should be easily affordable or else found in everyone's home becomes a priceless artefact acquired at great pains.

In [[DrivingGame Racing]] or {{Fighting Game}}s, ensuring that each character is balanced enough to be used somewhat effectively against every other character.

Because who honestly wants to do realistically calculate the values of copper coins to golden coins, etc?