History Main / AnthropicPrinciple

* ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' requires that the titular characters make reckless decisions at every turn, from their meeting up until their tragic death; even their very relationship is built upon [[LoveAtFirstSight a flimsy rationale]]. Not only is this necessary to establish the story as ATragedyOfImpulsiveness, but also for it to work at all: Romeo would've never met Juliet in the first place [[IncitingIncident had he not snuck into a ball]] hosted by his own mortal enemies.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' and ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' warn you if you kill an NPC vital for the story to continue, the threads of fate have been severed and the world is going to hurtle towards certain doom. You still have the option to continue if you want, or you can [[NonStandardGameOver go back as if you'd died]].

** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'', the death of Naked Snake or Ocelot both result in [[NonStandardGameOver the infamous "time paradox" game over screen]]. The future course of the story depends ''heavily'' on these two characters, so it just wouldn't do for them to die in the prequel.
** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'', doing suicidal stuff to kill Snake and looking closely reveals invisible threads connected to him, as if he were a marionette. Much later in the game, he faces an enemy that can control others and uses the very same effect, implying those out-of-character suicides were actually because he was under mind control.

* Similarly, ''Film/TheVillage'' requires the founders to somehow set up [[spoiler:a massive No-Fly Zone that prevents the residents from seeing or hearing any modern aircraft flying nearby. Not to mention the logistical issues of somehow rerouting air traffic into or out of New York State without entering Canadian airspace or disturbing the village...]]

-->'''Playwright:''' People often ask me, they're like, "Why don't you spend more time on why she says yes and not no?" And I'll tell you straight up: from a dramaturgical perspective, her saying no makes this a very short play.

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle The original Anthropic Principle]] is the hypothesis that there must be statistical limits to what observations we can make concerning the structure of the universe: any observation must be within parameters that permit the emergence of intelligent life, because if this was not so, we would not be here to observe them. Furthermore, this means it is impossible to extrapolate from our own universe any estimate of the ''probability'' of being in a universe where intelligent life is possible, because whether the chances are probable or not, it would look the same to us, as our universe by definition ''must'' be capable of supporting intelligent life in order for us to ask the question in the first place. The best we can say is that the probability of such a universe existing is greater than zero (because we exist). [[note]]These two statements are sometimes called the weak and strong versions of the anthropic principle. A common misinterpretation of the strong anthropic principle is that the universe must ''necessarily'' be such as to permit the emergence of intelligent life (i.e. that the probability must be 1; but this misses the point.[[/note]]

* Readers of "WebOriginal/NothingLikeTheSun" wondered at first why, if the main character is omnipotent, she couldn't just turn her GlowingEyes off by force of will if it bothers her so much. Then the second chapter has [[spoiler:her discover she is a fictional character at the mercy of her authors]] and the third chapter explains that [[spoiler:nothing actually stopped her from using her powers that way, ''except'' that her authors did not allow it because there would be no story if she did]].

* In ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'', Isaac has the option to [[RefusedTheCall turn down the quest]]. If he does, however, the game's story cannot happen, so the dialogue tells you that the world is now doomed, the screen fades to sepia, [[NonStandardGameOver and you're booted to the title screen]].

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle The original Anthropic Principle]] is the hypothesis that there must be statistical limits to what observations we can make concerning the structure of the universe: any observation must be within parameters that permit the emergence of intelligent life, because if this was not so, we would not be here to observe them. Furthermore, this means it is impossible to extrapolate from our own universe any estimate of the ''probability'' of being in a universe where intelligent life is possible, because whether the chances are probable or not, it would look the same to us, as our universe by definition ''must'' be capable of supporting intelligent life in order for us to ask the question in the first place. The best we can say is that the probability of such a universe existing is greater than zero (because we exist). [[note]]These two statements are sometimes called the weak and strong versions of the anthropic principle. A common misinterpretation of the strong anthropic principal is that the universe must ''necessarily'' be such as to permit the emergence of intelligent life (i.e. that the probability must be 1; but this is a pseudo-scientific misinterpretation of anthropics.[[/note]]

* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Keiichi had a discussion about mysteries with his mother who pointed out that without a dead body, there is no mystery to kick off the story. This inspires him to commit a murder [[note]]to save a friend- the [[AssholeVictim victim]] is her abusive uncle[[/note]] and hide the body before it's discovered. Unfortunately, this bites him in the ass later as he's unsure if he actually did commit the murder as he couldn't find the body.

* The ''Film/DayOfTheDead2008'' remake illustrates an example common to many zombie films. It is explained that the zombie virus can be transmitted by air, in addition to being bitten by a zombie. When one character asks why [[ContractualImmortality all the main characters are uninfected]], the scientist explains that "some people are just immune to the airborne aspect." Although it may seem like [[DeusExMachina an incredible and unexpected coincidence]], they would necessarily have to be immune to be main characters.

* Necessary for any of the sequels to ''Film/JurassicPark'' to have viable plots. There MUST be dinosaurs created by humans, and they MUST escape from controls set by the humans. Hence a lot of IdiotBall and ContrivedCoincidence.
* ''Film/LookWhosBack'': In this movie (German title: ''Er ist wieder da'') Hitler wakes up in Berlin in 2014, the last thing he remembers being his own suicide in 1945. No explanation is given in the movie for how this happened. Hitler himself mulls over several possible theories, before deciding simply that "destiny" must have brought him back.

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle The original Anthropic Principle]] is the hypothesis that there must be statistical limits to what observations we can make concerning the structure of the universe: any observation must be within parameters that permit the emergence of intelligent life, because if this was not so, we would not be here to observe them. Furthermore, this means it is impossible to extrapolate from our own universe any estimate of the ''probability'' of being in a universe where intelligent life is possible, because whether the chances are probable or not, it would look the same to us, as our universe by definition ''must'' be capable of supporting intelligent life in order for us to ask the question in the first place. The best we can say is that the probability of such a universe existing is greater than zero (because we exist). [[note]]This is also sometimes called the weak anthropic principle. It's not to be confused with the ''strong'' anthropic principle, which states that the universe must ''necessarily'' be such as to permit the emergence of intelligent life; any universe which could not would not exist.[[/note]]

* ''Film/TheIsland'': The entire plot hinges on a colony of sapient clones being kept completely hidden by a MegaCorp, with presumably no government safety or health inspections of the premises ever being carried out despite the company's business being ''organ harvesting'' and no whistleblowers ever coming forward despite employees like James clearly being very conflicted about the whole thing. [[BigBad Dr. Merrick]] has ties to the Department of Defense, but he's apparently keeping them in the dark about the whole thing for fear of losing their massive investment.

* In most [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMOs]], the player will have limited options to change how quests play out, only really getting to decide which quests to pursue or not. As a result, the player is an incredibly [[PinballProtagonist passive]] character who typically only does what other characters around them tell them to do. This has a side effect of a lot of characters sending the character to do things they should really be doing themselves and yet still making all of the decisions for the player character. As part of this AnthropicPrinciple, this is really about the only way a game like this can work due to the limited ability to have multiple game states like a single-player role-playing game could manage.

* ''Film/TheIsland'': The entire plot hinges on a colony of sapient clones being kept completely hidden by a MegaCorp, with presumably no government safety or health inspections of the premises ever being carried out despite the company's business being ''organ harvesting'' and no whistleblowers ever coming forward despite employees like James clearly being very conflicted about the whole thing.

* Necessary for any of the sequels to ''Film/JurassicPark'' to have viable plots. There MUST be dinosaurs created by humans, and they MUST escape from controls set by the humans. Hence a lot of IdiotBall and ContrivedCoincidence. Noticeably in the first movie there was some explicit criticism to Hammond's attitude and the way experts and details are ignored out of arrogance and profit, which are removed when the movie turned him into a BenevolentBoss, leading to this trope.
** Taken to its extreme in JurassicWorldDominion: it's extremely unlikely, to say the least, that the dinosaurs escaped in the last movie would actually be able to survive for long in the modern world, and there are not enough of them to reproduce and actually populate the world, but these circumstances are necessary for the plot to happen, so it happens.

* Necessary for any of the sequels to ''Film/JurassicPark'' to have viable plots. There MUST be dinosaurs created by humans, and they MUST escape from controls set by the humans. Hence a lot of IdiotBall and ContrivedCoincidence.

* Creator/SMStirling's Emberverse series features a couple of main characters musing about their own luck in surviving (and thriving after) the Change. Of course, if they hadn't survived, they wouldn't be the main characters and we'd be reading about people who ''had'' instead!

* The premise of ''Film/{{Antebellum}}'' is [[spoiler: modern day racists kidnapping black people to be slaves in a recreated cotton plantation. The racists are so committed to this roleplaying that, at a glance, the plantation is indistinguishable from a historical one]] which means [[SwissCheeseSecurity it's located in the American South not far from the rest of society and there are no security cameras, tracking devices, fences or modern weapons or vehicles.]] Many viewers have pointed out [[PlotHole that one of the kidnapped black people should have escaped and brought the authorities down on the plantation long ago,]] but then the protagonist's story of doing exactly that (long enough into the plantation's existence to make it seem like a whole different world) could never have happened.

* ''[[Film/{{Grindhouse}} Planet Terrror]]'': The main characters' immunity to the airborne zombie toxin becomes a plot point when they try [[spoiler: and fail]] to synthesize a cure.

* In the backstory to ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'', the planet where [[spoiler: Creator/IdrisElba's character]] was stranded just so happened to have a breathable atmosphere. If it didn't, the character would have died long before ever encountering the ''Enterprise'' crew, and thus, there would be no movie.

* ''VideoGame/BioShock1''. Near the end of the game, it is revealed that every action the hero has taken [[spoiler: was the result of post-hypnotic suggestion compelling him to act]]. If you attempt to defy the [[spoiler: mind control]] earlier in the game, [[ButThouMust not only do you not progress]], but you never even get to the point where you can discover the true reasons behind your actions. Of course, if this happens, the plot stalls. There is only an interesting game in the first place because the plot proceeded the way it was meant to—you are playing it only because it happened that way.

* ''VideoGame/CryOfFear'': The whole story turns out to [[spoiler: have been written by Simon as a form of therapy after the car crash in the opening cutscene. If he had not lost his ability to walk in the crash, he wouldn't have had suicidal thoughts, wouldn't have needed therapy, and the story would never be written in the first place. This is demonstrated effectively in the alternate "Co-op" and "Doctor" modes; the playable police officers get sucked into the book (now transformed into some kind of grief spawned EldritchAbomination), and the only way for them to get out alive is to go from the end to the beginning and prevent the accident from ever happening. Dr Purnell however, enters Simon's mind willingly to destroy the book.]]

--> '''Terry''' (after defeating a mid-boss in ''KOF XV''): Another mysterious monster butting in? Wouldn't be KOF without it!

* The difference between ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' and ''[[UpdatedRerelease DDLC Plus]]'' shows a case of trying to explain away the element that was originally just something that needed to be assumed for the story to work. The original game is written like it's an ordinary VisualNovel RomanceGame [[spoiler: except that it's possible for characters to gain MediumAwareness and go off the script.]] ''Plus'' overrides the inexplicability of this element by introducing a boatload of hints that it's actually [[spoiler: a simulation with AI's that are basically human.]] Since the original story was not written that way, this [[VoodooShark raises a lot of further questions]] and requires some HandWaving in the new material. Of course, ''some'' "Why?" and "How?" questions about the new story can also be fairly said to be excused by the Anthropic Principle -- but if you do that with all of them, that still means there are more unanswered questions than in the original story, in spite of it maybe looking like the other way around.

* ''Film/LookWhosBack'': In this movie (German title: ''Er ist wieder da'') Hitler wakes up in Berlin in 2014, the last thing he remembers being his own suicide in 1945. No explanation is given in the movie for how he appeared alive in 2014. Hitler himself mulls over several possible theories, before deciding that "destiny" must have brought him back.

* ''Film/LookWhosBack'': In this movie (German title: ''Er ist weider da'') Hitler wakes up in Berlin in 2014, the last thing he remembers being his own suicide in 1945. No explanation is given in the movie for how he appeared alive in 2014. Hitler himself mulls over several possible theories, before deciding that "destiny" must have brought him back.