Worst use of Deus Ex Machina you've ever seen

[let's rock]

Umm, the end of half life 2, good to know not all lawers/beurocrats are blood sucking parisites. And would the Vita-chambers of bioshock count? Or poppy the sailor man's spinich

EDIT: Just remembered: Contact. "Oh no, our multi-trillion dollar tower that took phenominal levels of resources from multiple major world power's combined power to build got destroyed."

"Don't worry, I was building my own multi trillion dollar tower just like it on the other side of the earth just like it with my own money" Yah, you get it

Also, Independence Day, unstoppable super ships. FYI, crash a plane into it just right it blows up , did we not mention that until they were about to blow up the last human base? sorry"

 

[Pappytech]

OT: Most of Light's victories in Death Note require a DXM. Only way he could beat L.

Agreed. On the flip side, Near couldn't have beaten Light either if it hadn't been for Mello screwing up. Not exactly Deus Ex Machina, but that series got WAY too complicated.

Near the end, they started confusing "Complicated" with "Deep".

That they did. That they did. But, hey, Light finally died at least. Yay.

 

[Pappytech]

Ok, last try. The Core. Core of the earth has stopped turning, but we cant drill that deep + its very hot there and the pressure destroys everything. Oh, I guess there is some guy in the desert that has this machine which can tunnel through a mountain + he has this really strong material. We now can build a machine that can drill into the earth core + its hard enough to withstand the pressure and heat down there.

Please tell me this is a DEM.

mfG diebane

Sorry, but I don't think it is. They give a half-hearted explanation for what it is, before it's actually used. So, no, not Deus Ex Machina. Just incredibly bad story-telling.

 

[Furioso]

Ok, last try. The Core. Core of the earth has stopped turning, but we cant drill that deep + its very hot there and the pressure destroys everything. Oh, I guess there is some guy in the desert that has this machine which can tunnel through a mountain + he has this really strong material. We now can build a machine that can drill into the earth core + its hard enough to withstand the pressure and heat down there.

Please tell me this is a DEM.

mfG diebane

Not really, someone else already said why, to help you out a DEM is like if bad guy A says to good guy B, I have you know! but then good guy B says oh look i just found this random anti gravity device just lying on the floor in reach that we have never heard of before and completely solves my problems, that would be a DEM

 

[diebane]

Ok, last try. The Core. Core of the earth has stopped turning, but we cant drill that deep + its very hot there and the pressure destroys everything. Oh, I guess there is some guy in the desert that has this machine which can tunnel through a mountain + he has this really strong material. We now can build a machine that can drill into the earth core + its hard enough to withstand the pressure and heat down there.

Please tell me this is a DEM.


mfG diebane

Sorry, but I don't think it is. They give a half-hearted explanation for what it is, before it's actually used. So, no, not Deus Ex Machina. Just incredibly bad story-telling.

Does it really matter that much if something is explained before it is used? I think in the case of "The Core", it doesnt. You have the setting that everyone is going to die, and that there is no way that this can be prevented with the known methods and materials.

Then, we are told that it is possible. I think what matters is that something is impossible in one moment, and 5 minutes later it is established that it suddenly isnt anymore.

Or that is just me and I didnt get the point of a DEM.

mfG diebane

 

[Moriarty]

The Dark Knight. Batman accelerates his motorcycle, the Joker stands in the street. Last moment, Batman decides not to run him over, and we see that the Joker did not try to move out of the way. Really? This one thing and everything after it wouldn't have happened. Is this a deus ex machina?

No, not a deus ex machina at all. It's been well established that Batman forbids himself from killing anyone, and Joker knew that better than anyone else.

Is this one better? Lord of the Rings, the eagle saves Gandalf from the Tower in Isengard. If you just look at the movie, not once before eagles are mentioned. So Gangalf, clearly in a situation nothing we know of can help him, this eagle appears and saves him.

mfG diebane

Kind of? The eagles are mentioned in the books but they couldn't fit that into the movie, so it kind of is but if you think about it not really, since the plot device was present in the original form

It isn't really a Deus Ex Machinima because we see Gandalf communicating with a Butterfly before the rescue, so we at least know a)he can talk to flying animals b)he has notifiedsomeone.

Also it's not really a twist, as it's told as an explanation after we already know Gandalf escaped, don't know if that part is important though.


edit: if we'd have to find a DEM in Lotr, I'd guess the last scene where the orcs are swallowed by the earth after saurons defeat should qualify. Being demoralised like in the books would make sense, but the earth swallowing ONLY ORCS is a bit much.

 

[Pappytech]

Ok, last try. The Core. Core of the earth has stopped turning, but we cant drill that deep + its very hot there and the pressure destroys everything. Oh, I guess there is some guy in the desert that has this machine which can tunnel through a mountain + he has this really strong material. We now can build a machine that can drill into the earth core + its hard enough to withstand the pressure and heat down there.

Please tell me this is a DEM.


mfG diebane

Sorry, but I don't think it is. They give a half-hearted explanation for what it is, before it's actually used. So, no, not Deus Ex Machina. Just incredibly bad story-telling.

Does it really matter that much if something is explained before it is used? I think in the case of "The Core", it doesnt. You have the setting that everyone is going to die, and that there is no way that this can be prevented with the known methods and materials.

Then, we are told that it is possible. I think what matters is that something is impossible in one moment, and 5 minutes later it is established that it suddenly isnt anymore.

Or that is just me and I didnt get the point of a DEM.

mfG diebane

Well, I'd say you have about half the definition right. The machine from the Core is new and just randomly shows up. No one has ever heard about it before, it just appeared thanks to the magical plot device fairy.

But, at least to me, the thing that really makes a deus ex machina is it showing up at the last possible second. For example, if the solar storm or whatever was killing everything was going to hit in 5 minutes, people still had no idea what to do, and THEN they found the machine, that would make it a true dem.

 

[VanTesla]

There is so many things... to pick just one is impossible for me.

Characters that fit in comics: Batman and Superman

Manga/Anime: Bleach...

Games: can't decide atm.

Movies: can't decide atm.

 

[Hemlet]

The ending of The Dreamers book series by David Eddings.

Spoiler

Oh hi there, remember me? The surprisingly tactics-savvy husband of the cook? Yeah, I'm actually the almighty and all knowing god of this world and basically decided to take a nap for a few centuries. Here, let me save the day by thinking really hard and rendering that massive, hive-mind controlled mammal/insect hybrid army completely and utterly harmless.

I'm willing to forgive the other books in the series because the power of the Dreamers was actually mentioned before. The end to the series, however, came right the fuck out of nowhere.

 

[Pappytech]

OT: Most of Light's victories in Death Note require a DXM. Only way he could beat L.

Agreed. On the flip side, Near couldn't have beaten Light either if it hadn't been for Mello screwing up. Not exactly Deus Ex Machina, but that series got WAY too complicated.

Near the end, they started confusing "Complicated" with "Deep".

That they did. That they did. But, hey, Light finally died at least. Yay.

I have that episode on my DVR, and watch it and smile.

Yeah. The series went downhill right after L died. He was amazing, and Near and Mello were horrible replacements.

I never actually saw the anime; did read the manga though.

 

[Katana314]

- The ending to EVERY CASE in an Ace Attorney game. Ace Attorney Investigations goes from dramatic arrival...to funny parody of the number of dramatic arrivals...to dull and dreary, "yet again" dramatic arrivals. In earlier games, it seems to work okay though.

-Bad Company 2, just after the villain is revealed, being saved by your "pacifist" chopper buddy.

 

[dyre]

I mean, if the army was planning all this woodcutting earlier

What, you mean like this?

SIWARD

What wood is this before us?

MENTEITH

The wood of Birnam.

MALCOLM

Let every soldier hew him down a bough
And bear't before him: thereby shall we shadow
The numbers of our host and make discovery
Err in report of us.

True, it's only one scene earlier, but it is set up.

Yeah, I remember that part. The whole class was like "durrr, obvious set-up." It's better if that stuff is done more subtly.

And I don't think there's any set-up at all for the more important of the two reveals, Macduff's birth.

 

[Starke]

The James Bond gadgets.

Seriously, whenever Bond got in trouble (in the good James Bond's that is) he would always have the perfect gadget for the occasion. It got a little old for my tastes. (this is probably gonna recive some hate)

Yeah, no, this. Especially in Casino Royale. In a movie where there were no other weird psychotic gadgets, why is his car rigged up to work as a crash cart? It makes the Cigarette Lighter in License to Kill look downright intelligent and coherent.

 

[sheic99]

The James Bond gadgets.

Seriously, whenever Bond got in trouble (in the good James Bond's that is) he would always have the perfect gadget for the occasion. It got a little old for my tastes. (this is probably gonna recive some hate)

Yeah, no, this. Especially in Casino Royale. In a movie where there were no other weird psychotic gadgets, why is his car rigged up to work as a crash cart? It makes the Cigarette Lighter in License to Kill look downright intelligent and coherent.

James Bond actually has very few of these. All of his gadgets are explained well in advance in the movie.

 

[Kadoodle]

I'm just going to give an obligatory mention to Monty Python and the Holy Grail's "but then the animator suffered a fatal heart attack". I know it's not annoying in the slightest as they were blatantly taking the piss out of writers who do this sort of thing straight faced, but I always feel a thread about Deus Ex Machina is a poorer place without in being commented on.

The end of that movie is another great example, although its more of an anti-deus ex machina.


I've got a great example. Fucking Lord of The Flies. I was like, "What the fuck." And then I threw the book out the window and took an angry piss.

 

[James Joseph Emerald]

How did Squall survive the shard of ice to the chest in FFVIII?

Some think he didn't [http://squallsdead.com/]

Dammit! Ninja'd.

That is cool. Actually makes Final Fantasy VIII seem like a well-written story. Never thought I'd say that...

 

[MikailCaboose]

The Dark Knight. Batman accelerates his motorcycle, the Joker stands in the street. Last moment, Batman decides not to run him over, and we see that the Joker did not try to move out of the way. Really? This one thing and everything after it wouldn't have happened. Is this a deus ex machina?

No, not a deus ex machina at all. It's been well established that Batman forbids himself from killing anyone, and Joker knew that better than anyone else.

Is this one better? Lord of the Rings, the eagle saves Gandalf from the Tower in Isengard. If you just look at the movie, not once before eagles are mentioned. So Gangalf, clearly in a situation nothing we know of can help him, this eagle appears and saves him.

mfG diebane

Or the Hobbit, when the eagles inexplicably just appear out of freakin' nowhere to save them from the goblins burning the trees they're in.

 

[INF1NIT3 D00M]

I'm fairly certain Batman's utility belt contains a pocket dimension, considering all the gadgets he magically pulls out of it.

This made me imagine that inside his utility belt is a dimension where everything is made out of pockets. Pockets are EVERYWHERE in the Pocket Dimension! You'll never lose anything again!
It's kind of like a candy bar bag inside of a candy bar bag carrying bag inside of a duffel bag inside of a briefcase stuffed into a backpack that's been loaded into a cargo container which is stored in a warehouse that's tucked inside your pocket! INSEAMPOCKET.

OT: Everything in every Call of Duty after CoD4.

 

[lockeslylcrit]

The one that comes to mind is in Resident Evil 5, at the very end of the game.

Spoiler

The volcano. Chapter 6 builds up with the bomber equipped with the Uruburos virus, and if it gets shot down or crashes, it will create a massive biohazard. And then you board the bomber while it's in flight, and lo! it goes crashing down into a CONVENIENTLY PLACED active volcano, preventing an outbreak. What a lame deus ex machina.