History Main / HereThereWereDragons

Compare with {{Gotterdammerung}}, where it's the gods that have left or died. See also TheTimeOfMyths. If the story is ''about'' the magic going away it's, well, TheMagicGoesAway. See also EndOfAnAge. Not to be confused with HereThereBeDragons; there never were any real dragons in that trope.

* The opening narration of ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' "In a land of myth, in a time of magic..." seems to indicate this.

* ''Manga/InuYasha''. Seems like you couldn't go anywhere in Sengoku-period Japan without tripping over a demon. Five hundred years later, though, there's nary a one to be found, or any evidence that they had ever existed. A bit odd in that the characters have run into one of the show's {{Plot Coupon}}s in the present (although it was being guarded by a [[SealedEvilInACan sealed demon]]). However, they once saw the soul piper in the modern day, so there are exceptions. This is actually keeping in with Japanese mythology - youkai and lesser spirits are said to dislike electricity, and power lines create electromagnetic fields that repulse them.

* Played With in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', where, to the casual eye, this happened, with magical creatures and magical humans having been driven underground by the rise of humanity, leading to the formal and informal introduction of the {{Masquerade}} centuries ago - even the Gods were effectively banned from Earth about a millennium ago by the Celestials, primarily to let humanity develop in relative peace. While they still visited from time to time, they weren't allowed to do anything that would throw off human development. However, part of the premise of the story is that the events of ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', and more broadly, humanity's technological development (showing that they are "ready for a higher form of war", as Thor canonically puts it) and biological development, with the emergence of mutantkind, have meant that TheMagicComesBack, beginning a new age of heroes. This is treated as something of a mixed blessing - while Earth is now once more a world of wonders and [[StealthPun marvels]], it's also a lot more dangerous.

* One of the main themes in Creator/JRRTolkien's works, although it’s most obvious in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. In fact, it is implied in some of Tolkien's letters that Middle Earth is our own world (specifically Europe and northern Africa) in the very distant past, with the implication being that all the fantastic creatures and magic were lost over time.
** This effect is still quite visible within ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''; at the time of the War of the Ring magic had almost completely faded from the world. For example the current dark lord (though enormously powerful and terrifying) is only a pale imitation of the old one, who was an order of magnitude stronger than he was, and his Ringwraiths are only shadows of the terror of his master's Balrogs, which used to be a much more powerful force in the world than the one survivor squatting under the mountains seen in the books.

** This is very much in effect for the side of good, as well. Elven and dwarven civilization has been in steady decline for a long time, due to the elves leaving Middle Earth for the Undying Lands and the dwarves dwindling due to their race’s low fertility, and their races’ old empires, achievements and glories are lost and won’t be regained. The once widespread [[PlantPerson ents]] have likewise almost completely faded from the world after the loss of their women, with only a small doomed remnant remaining in Fangorn Forest. Middle-Earth is a fantastic and magic-filled land by our standards, but by its own it is a drab, grey and mundane world when compared to its ancient past.

* Played with in ''Literature/TheFirstLaw Trilogy''. There WAS an Age of Wonder, where demons walked amongst men, monsters roamed, and great magic was wrought by the Magi... but that was a long time ago, and as far as the 'civilized' people of [[TheFederation the Union]] know, it may well just be myth and legend. And indeed, they're not entirely wrong - according to Bayaz, First of the Magi, the magic is literally leaking out of the world -- and even those that remain of the Magi of old are slowly growing weaker and weaker. Still, more remains of the old world than most people realize... which could come back to bite a lot of people in the ass. [[IAmAHumanitarian And the rest of their anatomy, for that matter.]] Ultimately, most of the problems that appear have to be solved through mundane means - politics, money, violence, or a combination of these. Attempts to call upon ancient magics or find forgotten artifacts of power tend to either backfire badly, or just fail outright.

** Interestingly enough, the current owners to the rights for ''Earthdawn'' have a product in development called ''Equinox''. Not much is known about it yet, except that it's supposed to take place in the ''Eighth'' World.
*** As the current rights owners for Shadowrun and Earthdawn are different (Catalyst Labs and Red Brick Limited, respectively), it's likely that the games are no longer interconnected as they used to be.

* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' recently put out a new supplement; ''[[http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=SJG37-1651 Thaumatology - Age of Gold]]''. The setting is a 1930's pulp reality with magic on the way back. The triggering even was discovery of Philosopher's Stone in ancient tombs - apparently common enough in the distant past, its rediscovery is leading to a renaissance of magic research and even the emergence of magically-powered super-heroes.

* Replacing magic with technology, you have The Dark/Golden Age of Technology of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', when Mankind had access to unbelievably awesome technology. Nowadays finding the tiniest scrap of it makes a man rich beyond his wildest dreams. Why is it called the Dark Age? Because men's use of technology meant they didn't worship the GodEmperor (the truth is a bit more complicated, the Emperor didn't ''want'' anyone worshiping him in those days, and wanted science to replace religion).

* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' randomly generates a world history for each new game. If the world history includes the death of most Forgotten Beasts and Megabeasts and humanity has become a dominant civilization, the game enters the Age of Twilight.
** Two additional Ages dealing with this trope exist beyond that. The Age of Fairy Tales begins when magical creatures make up less than 10% of the world population. The Age of Civilization begins when there are no magical creatures at all.
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' seems to have an interesting explanation as to why there are no Greek gods anymore: [[spoiler:[[SociopathicHero Kratos]] killed the lot of them]].
* In ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' there was the Kingdom of Zeal, a FloatingContinent whose existence was based around the use of magic. There are almost no clues of its existence in any other eras (though LostTechnology and a few refugees make appearances here and there), and this being a TimeTravel story, you eventually find out [[RocksFallEveryoneDies why]].
** It also inverts the trope: you go back far enough, you come out to ''before'' there was magic (this is why the party member from that time, Ayla, can never learn it). {{Ps|ychicPowers}}ionics, on the other hand, exists... and is used by the dinosaur-people Reptites. The only reason humanity survives to reach the age of magic as opposed to the more advanced Reptite civilization? Sheer luck - Lavos took out the Reptite capitol when it hit Earth and the Ice Age killed the rest. This is a ([[KudzuPlot very confusing]]) plot point in ''VideoGame/ChronoCross''.

* The premise of the ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' franchise is that the power of Alchemy was sealed away in the distant past. Among the select few who know about the seal, conflict arises between those who want to remove the seal and those who want to maintain it. The second game explains that because Alchemy was sealed, not only was the majority of magic also sealed, but the lot of ancient technology and the methods to create things from it also went away. The sealing of Alchemy causes the world to regress to the point where there's only small towns and villages across the world and everyone doesn't understand the purpose the ancient structures like the elemental lighthouses or the elemetal rocks/mountains. On top of this, the sealing of Alchemy changed the world to become a FlatWorld and is slowly crumbling away. ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' [[TheMagicComesBack brings Alchemy back]] and reveals some ancient ruins and technology that were buried underground.
* While magic still exists in the ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'', actual dragons are extinct. And in ''VideoGame/OverlordII'' [[spoiler: the dwarves join them]]. While other magical beings such as the Elves, Unicorns, Gnomes, Fairies, Mermaids, the Overlord himself and the Minions still exist they suffer anti-magic persecution in the same game.
* This is the setting of ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'': The giant mythical beast has been dead for millenia, titans had born, built a civilization, kicked ass and [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended to a higher plane of existence]], the landscape is littered with their giant relics and the rebellion against the demons has already failed. And then TheHero shows up and inspires some.. well.. legends of his own.
** This goes for the age of metal compared to the modern age as well: Eddie comes from our time, and feels out of place in a world where most of the good metal has died. Then he gets transported far into the past, to a world with swords, demons, great beasts, landscapes and '''metal!''' He feels more at home there than he ever did in the 2000's.

* ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'' centers around the last place of magic left in the world - Lea Monde. The trick is that we've ''seen'' what the world looked like with magic; it was called ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' (which was itself an example to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'', which had much more advanced magic and magitechnology). What happened in the intervening centuries between each of them is unknown. (Funny enough given the trope name, there are ''lots'' of dragons in ''VideoGame/VagrantStory''.)

** [[spoiler: As of ''Literature/LastFlight'', the griffons have also returned.]]

--> "We hear stories of them living in trees and imagine wooden ramps and Dalish aravels. Imagine instead spires of crystal twining through the branches, palaces floating among the clouds. Imagine beings who lived forever, for whom magic was as natural as breathing. That is what was lost."

* In a way, the civilization of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' fits into this; the wonders of the Chozo have faded away to myth and stories, and from ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' it was shown the Chozo society was, despite their [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien unmatchable technology]], one closer to that of a magical one, what with their prophecies and [[DemonicSpiders ghosts]]. Consider as well that there is Ridley, the last space dragon flying around, and as the games advance the amount of mythically focused things seems to go down, and you have this trope RecycledInSpace.

* In the backstory of ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'', magic once existed side by side with science. The gradual decline of magic started when the wizard Malecite challenged the alchemist Aeon in a duel and lost. Aeon's inventions laid the foundation of the world of science and technology as we know it today, while Malecite was forced to watch all magic fade away. Technically magic still exists, both in the backstories of most of the reviewers (though how canon to the specials those are is debatable) and in the movie itself. [[spoiler:It just is that using magic drains life force, unless one has the Hand of Malecite to protect them. In the commentaries Linkara lampshades this detail and {{handwave}}s his own painless use of magic by saying his hat protects him.]]

** It's also thought that the fossils left behind by these creatures may have inspired the legends of dragons and such in the first place.
*** Mammoth skulls found in Europe and the Mediterranean during the Iron Age are thought to have given rise to legends of the cyclops (the large nasal opening for the trunk in the skull was presumably confused for a giant eye socket).

** This effect is still quite visible within ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''; at the time of the War of the Ring magic had almost completely faded from the world. For example the current dark lord is only a pale imitation of the old one, who was an order of magnitude stronger than he was, and his Ringwraiths are only shadows of the terror of his master's Balrogs, which used to be a much more powerful force in the world than the one survivor squatting under the mountains seen in the books.

** The first two Discworld books exhibit this in general. In ''Discworld/TheColourOfMagic'' Rincewind encounters dryads in a tree and says he thought that TheFairFolk were all extinct (which they are shortly afterward). They encounter dragons later in that same book, but they are imaginary and can only exist inside the Wyrmburg's magical field. In ''Discworld/TheLightFantastic'' it's implied that trolls are also on their way out, many of them having already become immobile. Later books drop this, save for the case of Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde, who are the last of the {{Barbarian Hero}}es and somewhere in their 80s.
** The dying out of barbarian heroes is less a shift from a magical world to a mundane one, and more a shift from a HeroicFantasy world to a DungeonPunk one. In other words, in the later books it's less that trolls are dying out, and more that they've stopped living under bridges and eating people, and started living in Ankh-Morpork and joining organised crime or the Watch. This is discussed in the short story "Troll Bridge" -- Cohen the Barbarian encounters a traditionalist troll under a bridge who's still attacking travelers, and moans that his wife is nagging him to get a modern job instead.

* Subverted in ''Literature/DragonSlippers''. Creel is convinced that dragons have been extinct for decades, as no one has seen one in living memory. Because of this, she's not too troubled by her aunt 'sacrificing' her to a dragon, as it means she can go off to seek her fortune... until she's promptly carried away. Oops.

** This effect is still quite visible within ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''; at the time of the War of the Ring magic had almost completely faded from the world. For example the current dark lord is only a pale imitation of the old one, who was an order of magnitude stronger than he was, and his Ringwraiths are only shadows of the terror of his master’s Balrogs, which used to be a much more powerful force in the world than the one survivor squatting under the mountains seen in the books.

* ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell'' opens with Britain's rich history of magic having faded away by the Regency Era. Then it slowly trickles back… This trope is well summed up by a book written by a man who found spells he had once been able to cast becoming ineffective, titled ''A Faire Wood Withering''.

* Fritz Leiber's [[Literature/FafhrdAndTheGrayMouser Nehwon]] stories are kind of an odd case, since they are set in a different universe, yet have easily indentifiable real-world cultures like the Conan stories, and in at least one story, the characters are explicitly in AncientGreece. (Many years later, while compiling a collected edition of the stories, Leiber wrote a prequel explaining that they were temporarily transported to Earth by their TricksterMentor Ningauble, though [[HandWave remaining vague]] on ''how'' or ''why''.)
** Ningauble's cavern tunnels lead to [[AlienGeometries many different worlds.]] The boys got lost and went down the wrong tunnel. When they emerged, their memories changed to match the world where they wound up.

%%* ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}''%%

* ''FanFic/TheThreeKingsHunt'': The author has said that at the time of Camelot around 3 in 10 of the human population had some form of magical power. Needless to say this is no longer the case due [[spoiler: to the genocide against the mages]]. These days the mage population is probably in the hundreds of thousands, with the wizard population in the low millions and the non-magicals outnumbering both by a lot.

*** The dying out of barbarian heroes is less a shift from a magical world to a mundane one, and more a shift from a HeroicFantasy world to a DungeonPunk one. In other words, in the later books it's less that trolls are dying out, and more that they've stopped living under bridges and eating people, and started living in Ankh-Morpork and joining organised crime or the Watch.
** Discussed in the short story "Troll Bridge" -- Cohen the Barbarian encounters a traditionalist troll under a bridge who's still attacking travelers, and moans that his wife is nagging him to get a modern job instead.

* Played with in ''Literature/TheFirstLaw Trilogy''. There WAS an Age of Wonder, where demons walked amongst men, monsters roamed, and great magic was wrought by the Magi... but that was a long time ago, and as far as the 'civilized' people of [[TheFederation the Union]] know, it may well just be myth and legend. And indeed, they're not entirely wrong - according to Bayaz, First of the Magi, the magic is literally leaking out of the world - and even those that remain of the Magi of old are slowly growing weaker and weaker. Still, more remains of the old world than most people realize... which could come back to bite a lot of people in the ass. [[IAmAHumanitarian And the rest of their anatomy, for that matter.]] Ultimately, most of the problems that appear have to be solved through mundane means - politics, money, violence, or a combination of these. Attempts to call upon ancient magics or find forgotten artifacts of power tend to either backfire badly, or just fail outright.
* Implied in [[TheTimeOfMyths all mythologies.]] The big ElephantInTheLivingRoom, back when those myths were believed, was that in the past you had heroes and magic and gods running around, but by the time of those telling the story, all such things had vanished with no explanation.
** Though interestingly {{Double Subver|sion}}ted in medieval European chronicles themselves, where they took TheTimeOfMyths to be when the early parts of Literature/TheBible were set, and then there were about 1500 years of no supernatural things (with [[UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} one exception]]) occurring, during AncientGreece and AncientRome, but ''then''... [[TheMagicComesBack there were tales of sorcerers, dragons, and]] [[KnightInShiningArmor Knights In Shining Armor]]... which inexplicably disappeared at some unspecified point in the narratives.

-->"When I was young it seemed that life was so wonderful, a miracle...
-->But then they sent me away, teach me how to be sensible, [[TitleDrop logical]], responsible, [[TheMagicGoesAway practical.]]"

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Webcomic/CodenameHunter'' ''starts'' there. Then AllHellBreaksLoose.
* In ''Webcomic/TheGodsOfArrKelaan'', it is revealed that the Earth no longer has magic or gods outside the Christian faith because [[spoiler: for some reason all the magic power is running out of our galaxy, so they cannot even get to Earth without a VERY large outside source of energy, which the gods who started Christianity have. By the end of the stroyline they lose it though, so magic is completly gone.]]

** Of course, plenty of modern creatures would be equally outlandish to one who had never encountered them. Huge beasts with one massive horn jutting from their face? Hairy man-beasts in the jungle? Feathered, flying lizards with clawed pincers instead of a face? Familiarity, as one palaeontologist has observed, breeds familiarity.

** The Raven Banner. Accounts differ, but many speak of a flag consecrated to Odin, which would give victory to the flag-bearer's army at the cost of the flag-bearer's life. The Great Heathen Army, led by the sons of Ivar the Boneless when they invaded England to avenge their father's treacherous murder, bore such a flag; Harald Hardrada carried a raven banner named Land-Waster, which may have been the same one. At the Battle of Hastings, Land-Waster's magic failed, and the Danes were routed; but before then, the banner worked, for several hundred years (at least according to Tom Holland's magic-realist history, ''The Forge of Christendom'').

%%* ''{{Wanted}}''%%

* The premise of the ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' franchise is that the power of Alchemy was sealed away in the distant past. Among the select few who know about the seal, conflict arises between those who want to remove the seal and those who want to maintain it.

-->"How years ago in days of old when magic filled the air...

** The internet itself could be viewed as an example of this trope. In an era where any claim can be instantly fact-checked by reaching into your pocket and typing a few words into your smartphone, it can be hard to believe that just a few decades ago people were largely at the mercy of whatever they were told by books (which weren't always easy to come by in the first place), TV, or word of mouth. Urban legends are a lot less spooky when you can debunk them with a quick visit to Snopes.com. That said, the internet has also given birth to new mysteries and wonders, and provided a platform for communities that may not otherwise have ever come together, so in that regard the "dragons" are still alive and well.

* This is how anyone who was part of the Internet during its first ten to fifteen years feels today. We miss the magic of unfettered creativity before people realized they could make a buck off the Internet, back in the days before clickbait, before spyware, before malware and ransomware, before social media contracts that mock your rights to privacy, and before the modern need to fight for network neutrality. Sure, there was the 'blink' command and the insanity of TimeCube, but the freedom for experimentation and play really made it seem a magical time, and it didn't even last twenty years.

* This is how anyone who was part of the Internet during its first ten to fifteen years feels today. We miss the magic of unfettered creativity before people realized they could make a buck off the Internet, back in the days before clickbait, before spyware, before malware and ransomware, before social media contracts that waive your privacy, and before the modern need to fight for network neutrality. Sure, there was the 'blink' command and the insanity of TimeCube, but the freedom for experimentation and play really made it seem a magical time, and it didn't even last twenty years.

* ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'' centers around the last place of magic left in the world - Lea Monde. The trick is that we've ''seen'' what the world looked like with magic; it was called ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' (which was itself an example to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'', which had much more advanced magic and magitechnology). What happened in the intervening centuries between each of them is unknown. (Funny enough given the trope name, there are ''lots'' of dragons in ''VagrantStory''.)

* ''Manga/InuYasha''. Seems like you couldn't go anywhere in Sengoku-period Japan without tripping over a demon. Five hundred years later, though, there's nary a one to be found, or any evidence that they had ever existed. A bit odd in that the characters have run into one of the show's {{Plot Coupon}}s in the present (although it was being guarded by a [[SealedEvilInACan sealed demon]]). However, they once saw the soul piper in the modern day, so there are exceptions.

* ''FanFic/TheThreeKingsHunt'' the author has said that at the time of Camelot around 3 in 10 of the human population had some form of magical power. Needless to say this is no longer the case due [[spoiler: to the genocide against the mages]]. These days the mage population is probably in the hundreds of thousands, with the wizard population in the low millions and the non-magicals outnumbering both by a lot.

* Subverted In Dragon Slippers. Creel is convinced that dragons have been extinct for decades, as no one has seen one in living memory. Because of this, she's not too troubled by her aunt 'sacrificing' her to a dragon, as it means she can go off to seek her fortune.... until she's promptly carried away. Oops.
* Robert E. Howard's original ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' stories are said to have taken place in Earth's prehistory.
* Creator/JRRTolkien's letters indicated that the same was true of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.
** The effect actually happens within ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''; at the time of the War of the Ring the magic was almost completely faded from the world. For a random example, at one point there were so many Balrogs they had their own army instead of only one, and the current dark lord is only a pale imitation of the old one, who was order of magnitude stronger still.
** Tolkien retconned the purpose of the quest in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' to be Gandalf's move to deny Sauron a weapon of mass destruction by making this literally true.

** In the fourth book, it's actually hinted that [[spoiler: The Maesters are actively trying to get rid of magic.]]

* Played with in ''Literature/TheFirstLaw Trilogy''. There WAS an Age of Wonder, where demons walked amongst men, monsters roamed, and great magic was wrought by the Magi... but that was a long time ago, and as far as the 'civilized' people of [[TheFederation The Union]] knows, may well just be myth and legend. And indeed, they're not entirely wrong - according to Bayaz, First of the Magi, the magic is literally leaking out of the world - and even those that remains of the Magi of old, are slowly growing weaker and weaker. Still, more remains of the old world than most people realize... which could come back to bite a lot of people in the ass. [[IAmAHumanitarian And the rest of their anatomy, for that matter.]] Ultimately, most of the problems that appear has to be solved through mundane means - politics, money, violence, or a combination of those. Attempts to call upon ancient magics or find forgotten artifacts of power tend to either backfire badly, or just fail outright.

** Though interestingly {{Double Subver|sion}}ted in medieval European chronicles themselves, where they took TheTimeOfMyths to be when the early parts of Literature/TheBible were set, and then there were about 1500 years of no supernatural things (with [[UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} one exception]]) occurring, during AncientGreece and AncientRome, but ''then''… [[TheMagicComesBack there were tales of sorcerers, dragons, and]] [[KnightInShiningArmor Knights In Shining Armor]]… which inexplicably disappeared at some unspecified point in the narratives.

* ''Earthdawn'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' are two roleplaying games that take place in a world where magic ebbs and flows over the eons. The term "Worlds" is used to distinguish a period when the mana levels are high enough to support magic or nearly nonexistent. ''Earthdawn'' takes place in the Fourth World, when the FiveRaces (and others) are commonplace and magic is a steady trade. The Fifth World is the present day (well, an AlternateHistory version of "the present day" that splits off around 1999), when magic is nearly nonexistent. The Sixth World of ''Shadowrun'' begins in 2012, with the return of dragons, magic, and the FiveRaces.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' seems to have an interesting explanation as to why there are no Greek gods anymore: [[spoiler:[[SociopathicHero Kratos]]]].

* The ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' world, while still plentifully enmagicked, has lost a lot of it since the olden days because of the elves partially sealing the Chaos Rift, greatly decreasing magical potency and also preventing daemons from rampaging across the world.

** The Holy Lance: not the spear of Longuinus, but a lance forged in the 600s around a nail from Christ's crucifixion. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, traded a province for it, and he got the better deal; with the Holy Lance borne before them, his army was able to stop the Hungarians' raids into Bavaria and the Rhineland, and secure the peace and stability of Germany.

** The Raven Banner. Accounts differ, but many speak of a flag consecrated to Odin, which would give victory to the flag-bearer's army at the cost of the flag-bearer's life. The Great Heathen Army, led by the sons of Ivar the Boneless when they invaded England to avenge their father's treacherous murder, bore such a flag; Harald Hardrada carried a raven banner named Land-Waster, which may have been the same one. At the Battle of Hastings, Land-Waster's magic failed, and the Danes were routed; but before then, the banner worked, for several hundred years (at least according to Tom Holland's magic-realist history, _The Forge of Christendom_).

* Fritz Leiber's [[Literature/FafhrdAndTheGrayMouser Newhon]] stories are kind of an odd case, since they are set in a different universe, yet have easily indentifiable real-world cultures like the Conan stories, and in at least one story, the characters are explicitly in AncientGreece. (Many years later, while compiling a collected edition of the stories, Leiber wrote a prequel explaining that they were temporarily transported to Earth by their TricksterMentor Ningauble, though [[HandWave remaining vague]] on ''how'' or ''why''.)