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Weird Science

 Weird Science
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Weird Science
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Weird Science is the name for the style of storytelling made famous by the Science Fiction "pulp" (named after the poor quality paper on which they got printed) magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. By the 1950s, sales fell off, probably because of the advent of television. A few of these magazines had covers far trashier than the contents, while others reveled in cheese with the writers entertaining no delusions that they created great art.
Astounding Science Fiction (later Analog), Unknown (also known as Unknown Worlds), and Galaxy published generally high-quality fiction. Amazing Stories, Weird Tales and Startling Stories and others occupied the middle strata while Captain Future, Planet Stories and many, many others published the more shamelessly trashy material. (Unknown and Weird Tales actually published mostly fantasy and horror, though individual Science Fiction stories and elements would get incorporated in the stories too.) They specialized in imaginative stories of Science Fiction, with the less highbrow magazines in particular having a good deal more "Boys Own Adventure" flair. The actual name Weird Science comes from EC Comics Comic Books, which tended to use the Karmic Twist Ending or, more rarely, the Cruel Twist Ending. (EC also published Weird Fantasy, actually another Science Fiction comic, and merged the two titles later.)
The stories featured exotic worlds, buxom space babes, two-fisted heroes and, most importantly, the gee-whiz gadgetry that defines Weird Science. Many of the most notable names in science fiction and fantasy got their start writing in these magazines, and, as the century progressed, the standards both for storytelling and scientific plausibility increased, although an exciting story was always more important than a realistic one.
Their influence is still widely felt: any Science Fiction that involves derring-do with robots, rocketships and rayguns and doesn't worry about technical realism can be said to use Weird Science, but it is especially likely to be found in Planetary Romance.
Note also that Weird Science is not the same as Hollywood Science; the former throws realism to the wind in order to create spectacle whereas the latter comes from not bothering to get things right that could have been. They often have similar effects, but different causes; Weird Science springs from Rule of Cool, whereas Hollywood Science grows from poor research. (The extreme case, most often found in comedy, is It Runs on Nonsensoleum.)
Not to be confused with the movie, series or song of the same name, though the premise certainly is.
 Weird Science
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2023-12-09T00:32:25Z
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DBTropes
 Weird Science / int_28fe1376
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_28fe1376
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This is one of the main features of Fringe, with everything from travel between universes to Nazi biological weapons that kill everyone who is not blonde and blue-eyed.
 Weird Science / int_28fe1376
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 Fringe
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Weird Science / int_28fe1376
 Weird Science / int_3f04c72d
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Weird Science
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All Over The House veers into this trope almost every time Emily builds a new invention.
 Weird Science / int_3f04c72d
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Weird Science / int_3f04c72d
 Weird Science / int_42ffb88e
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_42ffb88e
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The SCP Foundation shared universe is this plus Horror. Particularly notable for deriving quite a bit of said horror by deconstructing this trope in a Crapsack World. In a world where Lost Technology and Artifacts of Doom are dug up every time a parking lot gets built, Teen Geniuses build Doomsday Devices because they got dumped, the new toy store is selling weird books, unusual games, Happy Fun Balls and Creepy Dolls, Things That Go "Bump" in the Night are all too real, and everyone on the planet is constantly playing Superpower Russian Roulette, few artifacts are viewed with as much fear and suspicion as the portal to a universe where the rules make sense.
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Weird Science / int_42ffb88e
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_44127c7c
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Power Rangers occasionally falls into this in its technology-based seasons.
 Weird Science / int_44127c7c
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 Weird Science / int_44127c7c
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Weird Science / int_44127c7c
 Weird Science / int_4aeea402
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Weird Science
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The Chinatown Death Cloud and its sequel The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown by Paul Malmont pay homage to this era with a couple of yarns in which Lester Dent, Walter Gibson, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, L. Ron Hubbard and other pulp writers investigate (and sometimes create) Stock Unsolved Mysteries — despite their very real flaws in comparison to the perfect straight-jawed heroes they churn out for a living.
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_4c09ea5c
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Fenspace basically runs on this trope.
 Weird Science / int_4c09ea5c
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Weird Science / int_4c09ea5c
 Weird Science / int_5188bde0
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_5188bde0
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GURPS Illuminati University has the skill Science!, as does Spirit of the Century, a celebration of the 20s pulp era. Weird Science and Mad Science are playable advantages in the game — the former allows you to make advanced gadgets that would be possible by modern technology while the latter covers pretty much anything you can come up with (although the GM can make a Game-Breaker prohibitively expensive...).
 Weird Science / int_5188bde0
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Weird Science / int_5188bde0
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Weird Science
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A fixture of TORG, specifically its Nile Empire setting, which mimics the setting of pulp adventures. The world has a technology level roughly equivalent to Earth's during World War II, but it includes an element specifically called "Weird Science" to allow things like jetpacks and superhero gadgets to work, because those are genre-appropriate.
 Weird Science / int_51c1e095
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Weird Science
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Atomic Robo is an Affectionate Parody of the genre, with the Flat-Earth Atheist protagonist frequently pointing out the Hollywood Science.
 Weird Science / int_53dc3731
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Weird Science
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Girl Genius lives and breathes off this.
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Weird Science / int_548802ea
 Weird Science / int_5e805259
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Weird Science
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"The Adventures of Captain Proton" on Star Trek: Voyager were an unabashed celebration of this trope (somehow fitting for the Star Trek that tended to veer away the most from scientific plausibility).
 Weird Science / int_5e805259
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Weird Science
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Gnomes in many Dungeons & Dragons settings, including Dragonlance and Spelljammer. The Eberron setting takes influence from this, in contrast to the High Fantasy style of most D&D settings.
 Weird Science / int_6ac55ec7
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Weird Science
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With the creation of "Lisa" being the cornerstone, Weird Science is naturally about this trope (which in turn named the film, in an inverted twist on Trope Namer parameters).
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Weird Science
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Farscape has lots of this.
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Weird Science
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While the movie was this to a lesser extent, the TV show Weird Science was this trope.
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Weird Science / int_6e57117e
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Weird Science
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Mom and Dad Save the World somewhat parodies this, but in an affectionate way.
 Weird Science / int_733067bf
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Weird Science / int_733067bf
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Weird Science
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Homaged in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Far Beyond the Stars" where Captain Sisko falls into a coma and dreams that he's a science fiction writer for the 1950s Pulp Magazine "Incredible Tales". Or is he sci-fi writer Benny Russel escaping into a delusion based on his own writing?
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Weird Science / int_73d7930f
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Weird Science
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Empire City in A. Lee Martinez' The Automatic Detective runs on this.
 Weird Science / int_74a8ffce
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Weird Science / int_74a8ffce
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Weird Science
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Rocket Age has Weird Science coming out of its ears, from insane scientists inserting control chips into monsters, to killer robots and matter-energy converters.
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Weird Science / int_74c659e6
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Fallout runs on the outrageous science of 1950s sci-fi flicks. The Old World Blues DLC from Fallout: New Vegas takes this trope and runs with it. The first NPCs you meet in the expansion are a group of scientists who sound like they just came out of a '50s sci-fi flick. One of them has No Indoor Voice, claiming that people keep tampering with his volume knob. They also use Buffy Speak when trying to repeat the names of the gadgets that the others among them have invented, and the main threat is a Mad Scientist who is just as hammy as everyone else.
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Anything Frederick and Doctor Franky create in The Life of Nob T. Mouse fits this trope well.
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Sluggy Freelance loves this stuff.
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Adventure!, being another celebration of 20s pulp, allows any Inspired character to try their hand at super-science. Daredevils can create Advancements, devices a generation or two ahead of their time; Stalwarts and Mesmerists can also create Innovations, devices that mimic the Inspired's extraordinary abilities.
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Weird Science
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Star Trek: The Original Series had an uneasy relationship with this trope, striving for something believeable, yet at the same time not having as much concern for being accurate. Gene Roddenberry's famous dictum to never actually explain any technology but just use it and let the audience accept it fits right in with the nature of Weird Science.
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Ratchet & Clank tends to run up against some pretty weird science and occasionally throws "science" to the wind because it's fun to have a tiny, furry alien with a tinier Robot Buddy wielding BFGs against an army of Ninja Pirate Zombie Robots.
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Weird Science
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The Godzilla films (and the entire tokusatsu genre, for that matter) tend to be full of this. In Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, the humans have developed a hilarious new weapon to deal with Godzilla: The "Dimension Tide" is a gun that will generate a small black hole and launch it at Godzilla. The hole will suck up Godzilla, sending him into a parallel dimension, and then vanish. (In the real world, in addition to being monstrously heavy and difficult to create, black holes are also fucking dangerous. Possibly more so than a giant lizard loose in your city. And they don't just vanish into thin air... at least not peacefully.) At one point, Godzilla tries to defend himself against the Dimension Tide by shooting the hole with his energy beam breath.
An interesting case of Godzilla being on the receiving end of his own threshold.
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Weird Science
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Futurama combines this with tropes from more realistic influences.
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Weird Science / int_a183d57f
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Weird Science
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In The Venture Bros., a distinction is made between real-world everyday science and "Super-Science", the kind of science that can be acquitted to superheroes, supervillains and other speculative science fiction-based parts of the world (advanced robotic technologies, superpower bestowal, mind-control gas, etc.).
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Weird Science
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Black Science is a Genre Deconstruction of this, playing many of its conventions for drama and horror. It takes particular influence from shows like Lost in Space, complete with a Dr. Smith Expy.
 Weird Science / int_a5949981
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Weird Science
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In Magic: The Gathering, the blue/red Izzet League from the guild-dominated plane Ravnica run on this. Impossible is literally just a suggestion at best for them, and the things they create are weird indeed.
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Weird Science / int_a825da3e
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Weird Science
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The simulated "Spacemonauts" segments of Gunnerkrigg Court is a loving parody of this trope.
 Weird Science / int_ab913d7b
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Weird Science
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Stargate: the movie had a lot to do with this trope, as does the series.
 Weird Science / int_ac719b97
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 Weird Science / int_ac719b97
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Weird Science / int_ac719b97
 Weird Science / int_ac8b90f5
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_ac8b90f5
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In Mage: The Ascension, the Sons of Ether run on this trope.
 Weird Science / int_ac8b90f5
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 Weird Science / int_ac8b90f5
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Weird Science / int_ac8b90f5
 Weird Science / int_b6cb9396
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_b6cb9396
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Lost in Space, especially in the bizarre alien gadgets and the Monster of the Week.
 Weird Science / int_b6cb9396
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 Weird Science / int_b6cb9396
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Weird Science / int_b6cb9396
 Weird Science / int_bac46af6
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_bac46af6
comment
The Core: the idea of taking a giant drill vehicle into the depths of the planet is this trope; unfortunately, everything else in the movie is particularly bad Hollywood Science.
 Weird Science / int_bac46af6
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 Weird Science / int_bac46af6
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Weird Science / int_bac46af6
 Weird Science / int_bb3fde3d
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_bb3fde3d
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Danny Phantom is pretty weird with its science... well, more silly than weird, but still.
 Weird Science / int_bb3fde3d
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 Weird Science / int_bb3fde3d
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Weird Science / int_bb3fde3d
 Weird Science / int_bcadd7cb
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_bcadd7cb
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Warhammer 40,000.
 Weird Science / int_bcadd7cb
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 Weird Science / int_bcadd7cb
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1.0
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Weird Science / int_bcadd7cb
 Weird Science / int_bd310eaa
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_bd310eaa
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El Goonish Shive. Though especially anything Tedd makes... or gets his hands on... or breathes on...
 Weird Science / int_bd310eaa
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 Weird Science / int_bd310eaa
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 El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)
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Weird Science / int_bd310eaa
 Weird Science / int_c43df4d8
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_c43df4d8
comment
Doctor Who, in its "classic" phase, had an ambivalent relationship to it as well, usually reveling in it, though at various times Creative Differences and Genre Shifts would affect how much the creators acknowledged it. The new series (and its spinoffs) under Russell T Davies embrace it.
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Weird Science / int_c43df4d8
 Weird Science / int_d2cb10af
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_d2cb10af
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Tarzan sometimes encountered lost civilizations that used this.
Barsoom used this to the max.
 Weird Science / int_d2cb10af
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 Weird Science / int_d2cb10af
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Weird Science / int_d2cb10af
 Weird Science / int_d4d8ce5f
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_d4d8ce5f
comment
Deadlands has this as one of the sets of player skills. This being an explicitly Faustian setting, the knowledge to make the gadgets comes from less than heavenly sources, and every new gadget you invent makes you a little more insane.
 Weird Science / int_d4d8ce5f
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Weird Science / int_d4d8ce5f
 Weird Science / int_d6423831
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_d6423831
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Barsoom used this to the max.
 Weird Science / int_d6423831
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 Weird Science / int_d6423831
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 John Carter of Mars
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Weird Science / int_d6423831
 Weird Science / int_e270b7e1
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_e270b7e1
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Genius: The Transgression has both Weird Science and a sort of deconstructed take on Hollywood Science; Geniuses are capable of building Wonders, devices that should not work by the principles of proper science, but do anyway. Until a mortal touches them, anyway...
 Weird Science / int_e270b7e1
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Weird Science / int_e270b7e1
 Weird Science / int_e5c5bc22
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_e5c5bc22
comment
GURPS:
GURPS Illuminati University has the skill Science!, as does Spirit of the Century, a celebration of the 20s pulp era. Weird Science and Mad Science are playable advantages in the game — the former allows you to make advanced gadgets that would be possible by modern technology while the latter covers pretty much anything you can come up with (although the GM can make a Game-Breaker prohibitively expensive...).
GURPS 4e actually has a skill called "Weird Science" which lets you invent ridiculous devices. Whether you are believed or they work is entirely dependent on the setting. GURPS 4e also has "Science!" as a Wildcard skill, which can be substituted for ANY science skill but costs a ton to buy.
 Weird Science / int_e5c5bc22
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 Weird Science / int_e5c5bc22
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Weird Science / int_e5c5bc22
 Weird Science / int_e5fd2cef
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_e5fd2cef
comment
The Lensman stories, originally published in Amazing Stories and Astounding Stories.
Careful with this one... while it certainly applies to the Lens itself and the principles it uses, the straightforward physics is harder than it looks. Most of the basic concepts, although taken to spectacular extremes, are pretty sound according to the general understanding of physics and cosmology at the time the books were written. It's mainly a combination of the scale and spectacle, the way many of the ideas have been hit hard by Science Marches On, and certain persistent and oft-repeated misconceptions among the insufficiently-careful readership, which makes things look like this trope. Smith was a scientist himself, and in most of his works did mostly try to stick to what was more or less plausible at the time (with the exception of the Skylark series, where he did explicitly abandon realism in the cause of spectacle).
 Weird Science / int_e5fd2cef
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Weird Science / int_e5fd2cef
 Weird Science / int_f79abfa3
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Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_f79abfa3
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The Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials, and subsequent television or film remakes, are archetypal.
 Weird Science / int_f79abfa3
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 Weird Science / int_f79abfa3
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Weird Science / int_f79abfa3

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Weird Science
processingCategory2
Speculative Fiction Tropes
 Weird Science
processingCategory2
Tropes on Science and Unscience
 The Trigan Empire (Comic Book) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Flash Gordon (Comic Strip) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Say It Thrice / Fan Fic / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Mom and Dad Save the World / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Tarantula! / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Fallout (Franchise) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 The Littles / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Wearing the Cape / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 CityOfHeroes
seeAlso
Weird Science
 RayGunGothic
seeAlso
Weird Science
 Teleporters and Transporters
seeAlso
Weird Science
 SPY×FAMILY (Manga) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Greek / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Lost in Space / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Weird Science / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Aberrant (Tabletop Game) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Deadlands (Tabletop Game) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 GURPS Reign of Steel (Tabletop Game) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Genius: The Transgression (Tabletop Game) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Hollow Earth Expedition (Tabletop Game) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Iron Kingdoms (Tabletop Game) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Rocket Age (Tabletop Game) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Spelljammer (Tabletop Game) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Spirit of the Century (Tabletop Game) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Trinity Universe (White Wolf) (Tabletop Game) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 AgentUSA
seeAlso
Weird Science
 Let It Die (Video Game) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Pulp Adventures (Video Game) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 The Outer Worlds (Video Game) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (Visual Novel) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 All Over The House (Webcomic) / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Comic Dish (Website)
seeAlso
Weird Science
 Extreme Ghostbusters / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science
 Light and Dark The Adventures of Dark Yagami / Fan Fic / int_67b4153c
type
Weird Science