Line #18 Mohs/ScienceInGenreOnly


1	'''Science In Genre Only:''' The work is unambiguously set in the ''literary genre'' of ScienceFiction, but ''scientific'' it is not. AppliedPhlebotinum is the rule of the day, often of the [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum Nonsensoleum]] kind, GreenRocks gain NewPowersAsThePlotDemands, and both BellisariosMaxim and the MST3KMantra apply. The vast majority of science comedy is in this genre, as it's easier to write jokes when you don't have to worry about contradicting yourself. Also sometimes referred to as Future Fantasy; just replace the castles with skyscrapers and magic with limitless technology.
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4	[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
5	* ''Anime/MazingerZ'' has elements of Mohs/WorldOfPhlebotinum, since it tries to be consistent with the rules and physics of its own world, but often real world physics are overruled by RuleOfCool and RuleOfFun. And thus, you have eighteen-meters-tall robots that are [[ImpossiblyGracefulGiant surprisingly fast and agile for its size]], run on Phlebotinum and are MadeOfIndestructium.
6	* The ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' universe is not run not by the laws of physics, but by the RuleOfCool. While the show remains ''relatively'' non-screwing with physics in the first arcs, the latter ones more than makes up for it.
7	* ''Manga/DragonBall'' started out as a fantasy series, and thus even the later sci-fi parts are mixed with fantasy elements according to RuleOfCool. Indeed, NoSuchThingAsSpaceJesus was averted almost as soon as the HumanAliens were introduced. [[SerialEscalation By the end of the series]], the plot involved WizardsFromOuterSpace, a HumanoidAbomination and multiple instances of PersonOfMassDestruction.
8	* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' has some definite aspects of ScienceFantasy, with magic not necessarily being subject to the normal rules of science fiction. [[spoiler:The science in the series doesn't end up having much to do with real world physics, though. Kyubey's description of entropy apparently contradicts conservation of energy, and the technology that his species uses blurs the line between science and magic to the extent that the two are functionally indistinguishable]].
9	* ''Literature/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'' falls into this category harder the longer the series goes. Drag-Rides, such as Bahamut (the titular mecha), are able to [[TimeMaster manipulate time]], [[NoSell nullify energy]], and even [[RealityWarper change the laws of the world]] with no scientific beyond there being "systems" within the machines that allows them to do so. And that's getting into what genetic engineering does: it allows [[MindRape manipulate people's memories and perception]], [[{{Telepathy}} detect the gaps on consciousness that are in a manner similar to breathing]] (never mind that that doesn't make any sense), and even come BackFromTheDead!
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11	[[AC:ComicBooks]]
12	* The ''[[Franchise/TheDCU DC]]'' and ''Franchise/{{Marvel\|Universe}}'' universes, which in some ways resemble sci-fi versions of the FantasyKitchenSink, will occasionally make [[HandWave weak, palsied gestures in the direction of verisimilitude]] and then follow that with a [[SplashPanel two-page spread]] that violates every rule of physics yet discovered, except the [[RuleOfCool most important one.]]
13	** It should be noted that some parts and characters of these universes would fall into other categories, but those are the exceptions and taken as a whole they fall squarely into this category.
14	* ''Comicbook/{{Asterix}} and the Falling Sky'': In what is usually a mundane/fantasy-ish classical antiquity setting, we have a [[HowUnscientific science fiction-esque plot.]] There are two alien races shown, one of them has tin-can rats as soldiers, while the other has Franchise/{{Superman}} clones. Both have spaceships (one had a rocket while the other had a flying saucer) and came from places light-years away from Earth, only coming to the Gaulish village to fight over the iconic magical super potion that said village has. [[spoiler: It turns out that the magical potion is not compatible with the aliens' physiology.]]
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16	[[AC:{{Film}}]]
17	* ''Franchise/StarWars'' -- at least the films -- tends to run on the RuleOfCool. In fact, according to LetsPlay/ScottManley, it's probably better to call it a high-tech fantasy. SpaceIsNoisy, {{Space Fighter}}s take each other on in {{Old School Dogfight}}s, ArtificialGravity is so ubiquitous that it doesn't even bear mention, an Earth-sized planet is blown up with such force that the debris rushes outward faster than the speed of light, etc.. (The Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse tries to be a little more restrained, and probably belongs in the next harder category.) Throw in The Force and it clearly becomes {{Fantasy}} [-IN SPACE!-] The ''only'' realistic law of physics about space that it follows is "you can't breathe in a vacuum".
18	* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' starts from [[NuclearMutant nuclear radiation's main effect being making skyscraper-sized monsters]] and Godzilla being a living nuclear reactor, somehow, and just builds from there. Certain entries include supernatural elements (such as some kaiju being PhysicalGods, ghosts and possession, etc) and therefore wind up pinging into ScienceFantasy, while others try to stay more "grounded".
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20	[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
21	* Creator/DouglasAdams' ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' is packed full of all kinds of bizarre nonsense. The fastest mode of travel, for example through the universe is by ''bistro'', as in "place you eat in" or "second most overworked word in food marketing after ''new''[[note]]Or more appropriately, the [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem creative mathematics]] used to calculate bills in such establishments[[/note]], and the second fastest mode is a drive that runs on the power of improbability -- but the stories are fully aware of how absurd it is, and the reader ''is'' encouraged to think about it. ItRunsOnNonsensoleum was clearly a favorite, if not ''the'' favorite, trope of creator Creator/DouglasAdams.
22	* Lois Lowry's ''Literature/TheGiver'' never gives any scientific justification whatsoever for... well, anything, really. Not the psychic transmission of memories, not the total control kept over every aspect of the Community, [[spoiler: right down to its climate and color—or, rather, lack thereof]]. The focus is more on human nature.
23	* ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' included some elements that were Mohs/SpeculativeScience at the time, such as the canals of Mars, but mostly went with phlebotinum everywhere. Most kinds of phlebotinum were portrayed with consistency once they were introduced, but elements such as John Carter's agelessness (as opposed to Martian immortality, which was a function of advanced medicine) and the transportation between Earth and Barsoom shaded into the purely mystical and didn't obey any kind of rules.
24	* ''Literature/TheMachineriesOfEmpire'' has some elements of Mohs/WorldOfPhlebotinum with the phlebotinum in place being the calendar (which somehow has RealityWarper properties), but this doesn't explain faction abilities, animal-shaped shadows or mirrors showing the person possessing you at the moment.
25	* [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''Literature/{{Redshirts}}'', the fast and loose scientific explanations are one of the first signs that the world they're living in [[NoticingTheFourthWall isn't very natural.]]
26	* ''Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy'': Creator/CSLewis cheerfully admitted that the only scientific explanation for space travel in ''Literature/OutOfTheSilentPlanet'' is a HandWave, and the genre is really closer to a LostWorld story, set in space largely because enough of our world had been explored to make the story implausible on Earth. In ''Literature/{{Perelandra}}'', he dispenses with a pseudoscience explanation altogether and has Ransom simply transported through space by angels. ''Literature/ThatHideousStrength'' meanwhile is set on Earth and explores how the language of scientific philosophy can be used as a cover for the ScaleOfScientificSins.
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28	[[AC:{{Pinball}}]]
29	* [[http://mirror2.ipdb.org/files/1851/Popeye_proposed_theme_from_Python.pdf The original treatment]] Creator/PythonAnghelo wrote for ''Pinball/PopeyeSavesTheEarth'' is this, with Popeye building [[TheArk an ark to leave Earth]]. The pages describing Popeye's journey through space has a stream-of-consciousness feel to it, full of abstract concepts made up as Python went. Also, light years are used as a unit of time rather than distance.
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31	[[AC:TabletopGames]]
32	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' features [[ChainsawGood chainsaw swords]], psychic spacemen, elves in space, orcs in space, undead robots, planet-eating bugs, three-hundred-metre-tall millennia-old walking battle cathedrals, soul-eating space stations and vehicles that travel faster because they're painted red ({{justified\|Trope}}, [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve sort of...]]), and that's just scratching the surface. The primary means of FTL is flying through Hell. In ''40k'', RuleOfCool is physics. As is RuleOfScary.
33	* ''TabletopGame/MetamorphosisAlpha'', the first Sci-Fi RPG, was ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' [-IN SPACE-], and featured unlikely mutants with superpowers as player characters. It's SpiritualSuccessor is ''TabletopGame/GammaWorld''.
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35	[[AC:{{MediaNotes/Television}}]]
36	* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'': Stuff happens. [[BellisariosMaxim Don't think too much how]]. Characters [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace breathe in space]] on at least two occasions. [[InstantAIJustAddWater Artificially intelligent robots]] built entirely out of random spare parts. A VW Microbus converted into a spaceship. As the theme song says: [[MST3KMantra "It's just a show. You really should relax."]]
37	* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' in its more scientifically themed seasons. (More magical seasons usually make a token gesture towards this with giant robots, but aren't close enough to trying to qualify). Even when they get their powers from a government research lab, the morphing is still a mix of phlebotinum and handwaves, the sources of energy are either phlebotinum or not mentioned at all, faster than light travel and humanoid aliens are the rule, [[MadeOfExplodium sparks shoot out of weapons and struck objects entirely at random irregardless of object composition and the kind of weapon in question]], there's never an equal and opposite reaction for most actions, and the square-cube law is in the corner rocking back and forth in the fetal position muttering about giant robots, giant monsters, and the impossibilities of the human shape on the kaiju scale.
38	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': Though set in space in the 23rd century, almost every episode from the Original Series, The Next Generation, Voyager, and large parts of Deep Space Nine and Enterprise has some degree of eldritch-like being, [[TimeyWimeyBall inconsistent time travel scenario,]] impossible machine malfunction (usually related to the transporters or AI programs), or an actual [[EntitledBastard all-powerful god-like figure with the temperament of a spoiled 16 year old]], which were the actual Roman gods in the Original Series and Q in the Next Generation, Voyager, and Deep Space Nine. The shows' writers attempted to keep to some kind of scientific canon by first [[LampshadeHanging lampshading any dilemna that didn't comply with established canon]] and then [[TechnoBabble inventing new, often contradictory terms]] in order to [[VoodooShark create a convoluted description of what happened and an equally convoluted solution for said problem.]] The franchise as a whole has often been referred to as "Franchise/TheTwilightZone in space".
39	* ''Franchise/KamenRider'' is similar to it's younger brother above, with similar handwaves for the morphing. Special mention to the Heisei era Riders, who tend to be men in suits rather then [[{{Cyborg}} Hollywood Cyborgs]], and yet have more JustForFun/{{Egregious}} body morphing.
40	** As an example, Series/KamenRiderDrive featured a slot machine transformation which extended the tire across Drive's torso into three tire sized slots. The resulting transformation should have horrifically disfigured Drive rather then let him quip about it.
41	* The original 1978 ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica\|1978}}'': They cross interstellar -- or maybe intergalactic, [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale even they're not sure]] -- distances in a matter of days. Spacecraft [[SpaceIsAir move like airplanes]], unless they're big spacecraft, in which case they [[SpaceIsAnOcean move like ocean ships]]. Guns fire [[SlowLaser "lasers"]] that move more slowly than bullets, with [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience Cylons shooting blue and Vipers shooting red]]. A city's stockpile of "Tylium" catches fire, and then blows up the ''[[EarthShatteringKaboom entire planet]]''. The ArtificialGravity that keeps them right-side-up doesn't even merit a mention, as it's questionable whether the writers even knew that people on space ships experience zero gee.
42	* In ''Series/DoctorWho'' and the other {{Franchise/Whoniverse}} series, anything and everything can be {{Hand Wave}}d by either SufficientlyAdvanced technology, RuleOfCool, RuleOfFunny, RuleOfScary, the TimeyWimeyBall, or some combination thereof.
43	* The ''Franchise/UltraSeries'', like it's cousins above (Sentai, Kamen, and Godzilla), runs off this trope.
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45	[[AC:VideoGames]]
46	* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'' are even softer than ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]''. Not only does stuff happen and things [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum run on nonsensoleum]] but the depicted reality contradicts what we are familiar with in everyday life. Planetary systems and galaxies twirl around one another, and everything has a near-Earth gravity. The protomatter of stars help you launch from place to place, and ludicrously speedy travel between the loosely defined galaxies is a must. Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto believes in putting [[RuleOfFun fun]] before ''everything'' else, including basic logic. Also, [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace Mario can breathe in space.]]
47	* The ScienceFantasy FourX TurnBasedStrategy game ''VideoGame/AgeOfWondersPlanetfall'' is unambiguous in it being a FantasyKitchenSink [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]], and generally relies more on the RuleOfCool to explain its internal logic more than any science; any actual attempts to talk about scientific justifications (like with [[HyperspaceLanes the Void]] facilitating FTL travel with [[OurWormholesAreDifferent Wormholes)]] are usually so palsy that they're ultimately secondary in the fantastical nature of the setting. An interstellar [[Franchise/StarWars Galactic Empire]] {{Expy}} that fell apart due to the collapse of interstellar travel [[FeudalFuture heralded by an Emperor and Empress]], a ''[[LadyLand literal]]'' AmazonBrigade that serves as SpaceElves in all but name and ears, {{Heavyworlder}} Space Slavic [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwarves]] with metal beards, the unholy, [[PsychicPowers psionic]] mix of of an [[AristocratsAreEvil aristocratic]] DecadentCourt with strong [[TheSyndicate organized crime undertones]], a former HordeOfAlienLocusts with fantastical PsychicPowers who had their brood queens lobotomized (who are also, mind you, the only race that ''isn't'' TranshumanAliens or just flat out human), and an race of [[TheAssimilator The Assimilator]] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot cyborg zombies]] who can resurrect from the dead... and they can have said PsychicPowers too. Add that to a heavy helping of even ''more'' wonderfully-weird [[CallAHitpointASmeerp classes - err, "Secret Technologies"]] like flat-out [[Franchise/StarWars Jedi and Sith]] [[{{Expy}} Expies]], rapidly-mutating xenobiology, violation of the laws of physics like its breathing, and the ability to summon [[OurDemonsAreDifferent AI Demons]] who can prove a serious threat on the field. Add this complete with [[TheApunkalypse lower-class raiders]], dinosaur mounts for said Amazons, and all other kinds of weird, and you have a ScienceFantasy setting that not only ''runs'' on RuleOfCool, but ''thrives'' on it.
48	* The Franchise/{{Pokemon}} games are set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, with settings closely resembling those of present-day Earth, only with technologies like flawless conversion of matter to energy, limited teleportation, and GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke. However, it is clear right from the start that RuleOfCool takes priority, with any scientific explanation, if any is given at all, brief and flimsy. In other words, in the Pokémon games, science is capable of doing anything required by the game mechanics and/or the plot.
49	* In ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'', we have a blue hedgehog who is able to move at what can be estimated to be the speed of light, which is impossible by physics standards, and [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace can breathe in space]], [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]] shooting robots apparently powered by animals, Chaos Emeralds in which a single one can grant exaggeratedly humongous power, cute fairy-like babies known as Chao that can absorb stat-increasing energy from either animals or capsules, an [[ArtificialHuman artificially-created]] alien-hedgehog hybrid with not much explanation behind this, and lots of unexplained science fiction oddities.
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51	[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
52	* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' doesn't even obey real world physics in favour of gaming abstractions, and the characters are capable of instant messaging one another through time via unexplained mechanisms. The comic deals with concepts like the way time works between dimensions and the impossibility of FTL travel, but mostly for whimsy and intentional convolution, and characters frequently complain that magic is not real [[HypocriticalHumor while using it]].
53	* ''Webcomic/EllieOnPlanetX'': The "robot studying aliens" premise could be swapped out for a fantasy one, without changing anything about the cute critters or [[Creator/DrSeuss Seussical]] landscapes.
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55	[[AC:WebOriginal]]
56	* ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' has nineteen Internet reviewers turn a house into a working spaceship capable of traveling from Earth to Jupiter in less than a week to investigate a literal PlotHole. Definitely running on RuleOfCool and RuleOfFunny.
57	* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': Despite being an entire universe about things that go against scientific rules, everyone treats everything with good scientific hardness and bases the magical things in plausible physics terms. It is best described as what happens when you have Speculative Science themes and descriptions in a Science In Genre Only setting by lampshading all the different unscientific things.
58	[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
59	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' is chock full of every single popular science fiction trope, often with [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum intentionally silly]] ReverseThePolarity style answers to justify them. Only "harder" than ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]'' because there's no MST3KMantra in the opening and the occasional legitimate maths and science appears as a GeniusBonus. Just for starters, there's a ship that once made the entire universe move around it, while the ship itself lay still, making the ship work at triple capacity.
60	* ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'': Even if you accept the premise of water molecules turning into food molecules via atom rearrangement - this movie will challenge your WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief by throwing anything resembling logic out of the window to replace it by RuleOfFun. See the main entry for more details. The original book (and its sequel) did this too.
61	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' gives no explanation for, well, anything. Everything happens in CartoonlandTime and is run by either RuleOfCool, RuleOfFunny, CartoonPhysics, or a mixture of the aforementioned, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking platypodes are blue]].
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63	[[AC:Other]]
64	* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' begins with a PatchworkMap island in the middle of a SingleBiomePlanet, inhabited by {{Cyborg}} {{Hobbits}} [[SchizoTech who live like primitive humans]]. They are joined by a [[FiveManBand Six Man Band]] of cyborgs with superpowered {{mask\|OfPower}}s and ElementalPowers. Although many of the initial mysteries have been resolved, and the series went through a drastic [[DoingInTheWizard shift from mystical to semi-sci-fi]], there is almost ''no'' explanation of how anything actually works. Creator Greg Farshtey has the MST3KMantra in his sig on the fansite Platform/BZPower.
65	* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'', full stop. If there is a scientific principle that hasn't been broken ''somewhere'' in the ''Transformers'' mythos, it's because you haven't looked hard enough. Time travel, alternate realities, FTL spaceships, blatant disregard for the SquareCubeLaw, and NoConservationOfMass, Energy, or anything else. Vaguely justified because [[AWizardDidIt A God Did It]].
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68	Back to MediaNotes/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness.

Context Mohs / ScienceInGenreOnly