Basic Trope: Fantastic phenomena are studied in a scientific manner.
- Straight: Bob studies dragons in a manner similar to real-life herpetology.
- Exaggerated: Dragons are a completely mundane field of study; Bob's paper is rejected in peer review not because of its fantastical subject, but because of methodology issues.
- Downplayed: Bob has some knowledge of dragons, but mostly studies more common reptiles.
- Justified: People are naturally curious, and would eventually want to learn more about the phenomena around them... basically, the same drive of mundane scientists.
- Inverted: An individual from a magic world studies mundane animals.
- Subverted: When Bob said that he was an expert in dragons, he meant komodo dragons...
- Double Subverted: ...which turn out to be actual dragons from classic mythology that just happen to live on the island of Komodo.
- Parodied: Bob has published multiple papers and is considered the world's expert in dragon droppings.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob is initially completely objective in his study of dragons, however, as he spends more time out in the field, his observations become more emotional and less rigorous, which gets his paper rejected and he tightens up on his next project. However, Alice, another researcher sees more value in his descriptive depictions of dragon behavior than dry reports full of data, and persuades Bob to research from a different angle.
- Averted:
- No fantastic phenomena are present.
- Fantastic phenomena are not studied in a scientific manner.
- Enforced: A fantasy show is obliged to make a "science is cool" Very Special Episode to educate children.
- Lampshaded: "I spent ten years working on my doctorate so I could study dragons."
- Implied: A dragon is seen with a numbered metal tag around its ankle.
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: People simply decide that magic cannot be rationalized in a scientific way.
- Discussed: "Did you know dragon activity in the valley has been increasing? It's in the latest journal."
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Fantastic phenomena do not always behave according to scientific principles, which stymies attempts to study them.
- Reconstructed: ...which only fuels people's desire to learn more about said phenomena; after all, real-world science has to adapt to new discoveries.
