# Favorite Deus ex Machina **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324 "2010-04-25T19:47:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/61 "2010-04-26T19:58:07Z")
Sure was handy of the aliens in Independence Day to have all their warcraft’s shield governed by a central software program. I’ll bet there’s not an army, navy or Air Force in the world that’s set up that way here on Earth … in fact, the very program I am using to send this message was the stepchild of DARPAnet, designed to provide decentralized computer communication in the event of destruction of central computing sites in the event of global warfare. Spooky. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/62 "2010-04-26T20:00:24Z")
Eh. . . How about that scene from “Life of Brian” with the alien spaceship??? ---
**Author:** ![NeutralityLoathsome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/53a042/32.png) [@NeutralityLoathsome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeutralityLoathsome)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/63 "2010-04-26T20:09:51Z")
Is there such a thing as an _un_Deus ex Machina? Like when the detective/police officer gets the bad guy based on something we, the audience, were previously unaware of? I guess you could say it’s a Deus ex Machina of sorts (for our hero), but is there a term for a similar plot twist that ends up being the downfall for some? Or maybe I am just complicating things way too much. Do the aliens in the Nicholas Cage film “Knowing” count as Deus ex Machina? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/64 "2010-04-26T20:54:09Z")
> [@NeutralityLoathsome](#): > > Is there such a thing as an _un_Deus ex Machina? Like when the detective/police officer gets the bad guy based on something we, the audience, were previously unaware of? I guess you could say it’s a Deus ex Machina of sorts (for our hero), but is there a term for a similar plot twist that ends up being the downfall for some? I don’t know if there’s a special term, but that reminded me of a short story that really bugged me: Bruno by Dean Koontz. It’s been about 15 years, but the way I remember it is the protagonist, a normal human cop named Bruno, is chasing after a bad guy who is some kind of alien with special abilities that I can’t recall. Anyway, Bruno uses regular cop methods of hunting the alien all throughout the story, but, at the end, the bad guy has Bruno on the ropes and everything seems hopeless. But then Bruno reveals that he, too, is an alien, after spending the entire story as a regular joe, and he uses his magical alien powers to win the day. Up until that point the story had actually been really suspenseful, and I was excited to see how he’d escape his situation. With a lame deus ex machina that I’m convinced Koontz let his dog write in. Actually, I should re-read that story as an adult and see if there’s any forshadowing to Bruno being an alien that I missed when I was younger. And for another literal deus ex machina, don’t forget The Stand. Of course I can’t really call it a favorite, unless by favorite you meant “most egregious.” ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/65 "2010-04-26T21:23:35Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Don’t worry about it. I have on multiple occasions posted my rant about how the land battle on Endor is grossly misinterpeted as the EWOKS kicking the Empire’s best legion’s asses. In reality, you get nothing but dead ewoks for the majority of the battle until Chewie commandeers at the AT-ST and turns the tide of the battle. Well, that and you had a force of the best-of-the-best commandos right there behind enemy lines. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/66 "2010-04-26T22:07:56Z")
Annie X-Mas: > [@](#): > > In the Legion of Super-Heroes epic battle with The Time Trapper, the appearance of Rond Vidar as a Green Lantern. But that didn’t really make a difference in the battle, so does it count as a DEM? The battle was turned by Brainiac 5 freeing the Infinite Man, which was certainly foreshadowed and planned. Quite frankly, Rond Vidar’s FIRST appearance, and his rescue of selected Legionnaires from Universo’s trapping them throughout time, is more of a DEM than his presence in the Time Trapper showdown. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/67 "2010-04-26T22:37:15Z")
The ultimate _Deus ex Machina_ has to be the climax of **Time Bandits** , when the Supreme Being Himself shows up to save the day. [Time Bandits](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB-8kakrlGA&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/68 "2010-04-26T23:33:37Z")
Re: definition of deus ex machina It may not be the technical definition, but I’ve always thought of deus ex machina “the person with the power to fix things comes back to clean up the mess”. In Greek times this would have been a god; in modern lit, it might be the boss. I’m not imaging this common plot, am I?- the Guy In Charge goes away, the protagonists try to do his job in the meantime, everything goes wrong, and just when all hell is about to break loose, the Guy In Charge comes back and has everything fixed up in five minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/69 "2010-04-26T23:47:08Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Because it IS him to a degree; a major portion of what he is, is in the Ring. He is more powerful with the Ring in his possession, because he can use it’s power, and because one of those powers is to draw from the energies that his old master Morgoth infused into the world. Not that the latter detail is mentioned in the main books. DT, I think **Simplico** is talking about the movies, not the book. I don’t think the trilogy makes Sauron’s dependence on the ring clear. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/70 "2010-04-26T23:48:34Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Eh. . . How about that scene from “Life of Brian” with the alien spaceship??? The alien spaceship is only there as a joke. It doesn’t affect the plot in any significant way, for good or ill. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/71 "2010-04-27T00:36:54Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Well, the examples you gave are not a _deus ex machina_. In **Babylon 5** , it was established that Delenn was trying to get the fleet to the battle. She just didn’t show up until the very last moment. > > A _deus ex machina_ comes out of nowhere. As an example, there’s **The Dark Crystal** , where the two gelflings fall off the cliff and > > the female has wings so they can land safely.This had not be previously established, so it’s a _deus ex machina_. > > In the obscure French science fiction novel, **L’Homme Qui Dort Cent Ans** , the main character – an American who slept a century and cannot adjust to the new future – solves all his problems by moving to Australia, which is just like the US a century ago. Nothing about this is mentioned until the final chapter so it’s a _deus ex machina_ (as well as being totally preposterous). > > The one I do like is in **Olive the Other Reindeer** when she stumbles upon a package address to her from “Deus ex machina,” which has the file she need to escape. > > Now, the cavalry coming in the nick of time is a fun trope, but generally it’s been set up that someone went to get the cavalry – thus no _deus ex machina_ Ah, but if no one actually called the cavalry, then [tvtropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeusExMachina) at least still considers it a deus ex machina. It’s not the person’s appearance that is considered the trope, but the fact that they knew when and where to appear. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/72 "2010-04-27T00:54:15Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > DT, I think **Simplico** is talking about the movies, not the book. I don’t think the trilogy makes Sauron’s dependence on the ring clear. The books too, at least from my memory of them. They say Sauron thought the Ring might’ve been destroyed, suggeting that he didn’t need it to survive. The emphisis is always on destroying the ring so Sauron can’t get it, not because destroying it will also kill Sauron. And they say Sauron needs possession of the Ring to use it to conquer the world (and to keep someone else from using it) not because its destruction will kill him. I don’t really get **DT’s** response. It just seems to reiterate what I said, he needs to have the ring to use it. SInce he never has the ring, it presumably _isn’t_ whats keeping him alive, yet in the end its distruction kills him, causes his army to bolts, and basically saves the day. The fact that the destruction of the ring not only keeps it away from Sauron but also totally wipes him out seems kind of an important fact. Boromir, for example, might’ve liked to know that chucking the ring into Mt Doom not only destroyed it but would also save Gondor, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/73 "2010-04-27T01:44:38Z")
There’s the example of _The Pit and the Pendulum_, where the French army shows up, right out of no where, and saves the day. > [@Munch](#): > > In the book \*\*The Alienist \*\*by Caleb Carr, Teddy Friggin’ Roosevelt shows up to beat the crap out of everyone (via offshore artillery). Best ending ever, one in which I think I started up a thread trying to figure out what other stories would be improved with the Trust Buster showing up to deliver a pounding to everyone in sight. **Offshore artillery**? A better (and still believable) ending would have been if Teddy Roosevelt showed up and started beating the crap out of everyone **via his fists**. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/74 "2010-04-27T01:50:25Z")
Hell, Teddy could beat the crap out of people with his _mustache!_ ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/75 "2010-04-27T02:10:15Z")
Second reply, since I didn’t realize there was a second page. > [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Eh. . . How about that scene from “Life of Brian” with the alien spaceship??? That is one of my favorites scenes of all time. > [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Re: definition of deus ex machina > > It may not be the technical definition, but I’ve always thought of deus ex machina “the person with the power to fix things comes back to clean up the mess”. In Greek times this would have been a god; in modern lit, it might be the boss. I’m not imaging this common plot, am I?- the Guy In Charge goes away, the protagonists try to do his job in the meantime, everything goes wrong, and just when all hell is about to break loose, the Guy In Charge comes back and has everything fixed up in five minutes. Something kind of like that happens in Terry Pratchett’s _Jingo_ where: Lord Vetinari, knowing that the island would sink, shows up in Klatch to sign a peace treaty with the Klatchians. Of course, I’m not sure of that counts, as we saw him traveling to that point. Also there’s what I like to call the techno-Deus ex Machina. That’s where the heroes save the day by inverting the polarity on the technobabble, thereby overloading the enemy’s nonsensoleum reactor. On preview: > [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Hell, Teddy could beat the crap out of people with his mustache! Yes. Yes he could. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/76 "2010-04-27T02:40:23Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > The ultimate _Deus ex Machina_ has to be the climax of **Time Bandits** , when the Supreme Being Himself shows up to save the day. Ah, but when one’s _Deus_ is Sir Ralph Richardson, it’s really quite _propah_. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/77 "2010-04-27T02:51:09Z")
Why would TR bother to use his mustache when he always carried that big stick around with him? > [@Justin\_Credible](#): > > And for another literal deus ex machina, don’t forget The Stand. Of course I can’t really call it a favorite, unless by favorite you meant “most egregious.” Just what I was thinking of. Totally cracktastic ending. ---
**Author:** ![Postariti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Postariti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Postariti)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/78 "2010-04-27T06:20:55Z")
In James Thurber’s childrens novel “The Thirteen Clocks” a character materializes out of thin air and proclaims that he is, “…the only Golux in the world, and not a mere Device.” He then proceeds to Deus ex Machina it up like nobody’s business. It’s a wonderful book all around. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/79 "2010-04-27T09:21:25Z")
> [@Book\_it](#): > > Examples include… Serenity ( **Serenity** spoiler) However… If you’re talking about the Reavers, they don’t actually defeat the Alliance. Notice that after River takes on the room full of Reavers, there are no more coming in from outside. There is however a shitload of Alliance troops standing by ready to kick some ass. The Alliance won the space battle and wiped out the remaining Reavers who didn’t make it into Mr. Universe’s complex. ---
**Author:** ![Aghris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecccb3/32.png) [@Aghris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aghris)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324/80 "2010-04-27T12:34:19Z")
I always thought that War of the Worlds had a cool deus ex machina. All is hopeless, the aliens are killing everyone, leveling every city. And then, they just… stop, leaving everybody speechless. Later it is of course revealed that simple Earth bacteria did them in, but the first time I say it I really went WTF? And even if it doesn’t make for a great story, it’s cool because it is actually very plausible. On the other hand, what kind of technologically advanced alien race are you if you can’t anticipate another world’s virusses and bacteria… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-deus-ex-machina/537324.md?page=5)