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Is using an in-world quirk to solve a problem an example of Deus ex machina?

Woollybear

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Let's say you have built a world that undergoes a small global earthquake every 6.5 months. This is a quirk of the world. There is religion that has been built around it. It changes the magnetic field ever so slightly every time it happens, every 6.5 months. There are even festivals on the world to celebrate this periodic event, which has a really cool name like The Global Shake. There are Global Shake parties. And so on.

It's not central to your plot, but it's there.

As the reader, you assimilate the Global Shake and its effects on society into your understanding of the world as you read the novel.

You even know that the planet is due for another shake soon, but you ignore that because it has so little to do with the actual plot.

Now, at the end of the story, the hero is in a deadly serious conflict with the villain. He can't escape. The villain is winning. All hope is lost.

And the Great Shake commences, the magnetic field reverses, all hell breaks loose in all manners, and the tables turn and the hero wins.

Question: Is that a Deus Ex machina? It is not a piano falling out of the sky from nowhere. On the other hand it is a device to solve the crisis.

Thoughts?
 
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lilyWhite

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If it just happens out of nowhere when it's most convenient for your hero, then it might end up feeling cheap to your readers. It's getting the hero out of his dire situation solely through authorial intervention, rather than his own abilities.

That's not to say that it can't be involved in the climax. If the hero has some way of knowing when the Great Shake will occur, perhaps he uses that to his advantage, planning for it in advance or trying to stall the villain until it occurs. I'm guessing the magnetic field reversal somehow disadvantages the villain; perhaps the hero knows that and, when it happens, the villain's advantage over him is lessened and he is then able to overcome the villain.
 

Calder

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I think the key is, from the start, to make your event - the Global Shake - capable of producing the conditions necessary for your hero to win. You say that "It changes the magnetic field ever so slightly every time it happens" but then go on to say "And the Great Shake commences, the magnetic field reverses," Which is it? There's a great difference between "ever so slightly" and"reverses". And what are the effects? If this event has been happening for a long time, people will know what to expect and will take such measures as are necessary to deal with them. Perhaps the way forward is to have your world used to a "Global Shake" every 6,5 months, but to build in the mythical threat of a "Great Shake", for which no-one is prepared and which no-one living has experienced.
 

Tazlima

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Agreed, if there was a setup that it was a known event, and the hero was able to purposefully utilize it to his advantage, it wouldn't feel like a deus ex machina.

"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" has a good example of this. The time-traveling protagonist is set to be burned at the stake, but he knows there's going to be an eclipse the day of his execution and figures he can freak everyone out by pretending to have magic powers that will darken the sun.

...dang, I need to read it again. I don't remember much else from the story at all.
 

Woollybear

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OK. My instincts say it is OK as is, it's just one part of the 'key' and only solves one part of the final conflict, not the whole thing. (It's not actually an earthquake in my book, something else.)

I am going to think about whether the hero purposefully plans to use it in my plot. He uses other parts of the 'key' intentionally, and gets 90% of the way through, then this thing happens which helps at the very very tippy end.

I was looking through an online list of mistakes that writers make, and deus ex machina was mentioned. Glad I asked, I was a little panicked that I had fallen into a trap.

Thanks everyone!
 
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blackcat777

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How precise is the timing of the shake?

You could do a fakeout, have the hero's calculations be off by a bit, let your hero get smacked around and suffer, and maybe THEN let him have his shake.
 

Woollybear

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Well, they actually get past the villain (~Vader) on their own merits but can't get out of the 'death star' without the extra help.

I like to keep it a surprise, not just to the reader but to the characters too, because it feels to the reader like, "Oh, shit, yeah, I should have thought of that too!" Not like "Cheap. Totally cheap. Cheap trick." If the hero planned it out, then you lose the "Oh! Man, yeah! That would work!" to the reader.

They outwit the villain, but can't get away. The 'thing' helps them get away.

What I am getting here, is that you want the hero to be smart. I got that covered.

Also, there's plenty of set up in other ways. The 'Global Shake' is set up as much as everything else.

I think if the hero is truly smart, then it's OK to have a little help from circumstance.

Final answer.
 
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blacbird

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Let's say you have built a world that undergoes a small global earthquake every 6.5 months. This is a quirk of the world. There is religion that has been built around it. It changes the magnetic field ever so slightly every time it happens, every 6.5 months. There are even festivals on the world to celebrate this periodic event, which has a really cool name like The Global Shake. There are Global Shake parties. And so on.

It's not central to your plot, but it's there.

. . .

Thoughts?

I like the concept, but if it's not relevant to the story, why is it there?

caw
 

Woollybear

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To be clear, the Great Shake is a made-up example here.

My actual scenario is not part of the pared down bones of the plot per se, but is part of the world building. I want it in place because it brings a nice tool if I ever get the chance to develop a series. Mine does influence religion, etc, which is nice.

The Global Shake idea was an analogy - to figure out the limits of Deus ex machina.
 

Roxxsmom

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I don't think something is technically a Deus ex Machina if it's foreshadowed and is working according to the rules set up in your story via world building or stage setting or whatever. However, it might still feel like a cheat to readers if the protagonist didn't "earn" their victory in some way. One possibility would be for the protagonist to be clever enough to set the fight up so they are taking advantage of the earthquake they know will occur at a set time. Of course, the villain also knows it is coming and may also have planned for it.

As I don't know what the world building element in your story actually is, I can't say for sure what might work in terms of the protagonist being able to use or take advantage of that element in a way that makes sense and feels clever to the reader.
 
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Enlightened

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You should watch Chronicles of Riddick (with Vin Diesel). Early in the movie, he is sent to Crematoria (a planet with immense heat). He escapes with others and races a competing crew for transportation off the planet. When the sun comes out, it kills anything alive that is above ground. There is a prison underground. For people to survive, above ground, they have to stay out of the sunlight. This is a known, timed event. The screenwriter did very well in using this to heighten the action.

The above example is not Deus Ex Machina (salvation by the grace of God); it's just an environmental factor to contend with. I think your example falls in line.

Similar things are "big dumb objects" in books and movies (that appear to be forces of nature). The Mummy (with Brandon Frasier) had a giant dust storm controlled by the mummy. These are elements to show strength of a protagonist or antagonist, and what the other must do to show they can endure such attacks. The basilisk is another example (Harry Potter). The Kraken (Clash of the Titans) is another. Reign of Fire uses dragons for this effect. The only one, in this list, that falls in line with Deus Ex Machina is the Kraken, because it was sent by the "gods" for punishment.
 
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PinkUnicorn

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My reaction to this, is as a reader, I think I would expect the hero to plot to use the event to his advantage, planning to use it to defeat the villain. At the same time however, the villain is planning to use the event to his advantage to take over world/whatever. But then the event does it's own thing and thrawts BOTH their plans, resulting in hero needing to come up with a plan b in order to defeat villain on his own without the help of the event.
 

Woollybear

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Thank you everyone!~ I love these suggestions. They may impact the finished manuscript - I am not certain. I'll ask my beta readers.

They will *certainly* impact the sequel, which has been forming in my mind for about a month. Guaranteed!

Thank you again.
 

rwm4768

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With the earthquake example, I would feel a little cheated as you first describe it. I would prefer that the hero plans to use the earthquake to their advantage. Otherwise, the timing would feel a little too convenient.
 

blackcat777

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A shake party sounds like a lot of fun, thought I would mention. :) I'm intrigued by the world you're building!

I picked another idea from the random thought hat: what if your scenario is such that maybe, the quake gives the hero a lucky break... but somehow shakes something from bad to worse in the second book? Sort of like the Hero Breaks It or Evil Power Vacuum trope, e.g., the hero saves the day by defeating the bad guy... but something more awful comes to take its place and it's technically the hero's fault.

I don't know what the stakes are, what kind of Objects or Technology if any are involved in the final confrontation, so I'm not sure how viable this is. Could the hero's success piggyback on the quake and seem lucky, but also set the stage for a bigger conflict? Luck that comes at a price?

Could the quake have unforeseen effects? Cause more damage? Be bigger than usual? Can anyone, wittingly or unwittingly, impact the power of the quake?
 

Woollybear

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:) I don't want to say what I am thinking about for the next book, but blackcat ... yes ... that - - - but not that - - - but yes. :)

rwm4768: I agree with you. I think you get that I sort of illustrated freely in that example because I was looking just at what is and isn't a force of god type deal. I agree it would feel like a cheat as described.
 

katiemac

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I like to keep it a surprise, not just to the reader but to the characters too


I think this has been touched upon in slightly other ways in this thread, but if the timing of the event is as predictable and well-known as you say, I'd have trouble with a character who is caught by surprise.

You may not want the protagonist to actively plan to use the event in his or her favor, but I'd image they'd at least be aware of it. It could another obstacle, a ticking clock, as in "we have to do X thing before the quake or X bad thing happens," in which case it can still be a suprise that it helps them win.
 

SimaLongfei

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Some advice I haven't seen stated yet (and a lot of good advice is in this thread), is that if you want this to be a surprise, make sure to have the Great Shake apply to some other plot point first. Readers can be pretty genre savvy, and if you have a fight taking place on the night of the Great Shake, 9 out of 10 readers can read those tea leaves well enough to anticipate that a shake is going to happen in the fight, and won't be surprised.

To make this a metaphor, instead of Chekhov's gun, try to make Chekhov's repeating rifle. Introduce it hanging on the mantle place in the first act, have it shoot the cat in the second. Then, appearing discarded and out of ammo, have it kill the bear invading the home.

How you're going to do this with a seismic event is going to be a heck of a puzzle for you as a writer, but I think you can do it. Aftershocks, maybe? Weakened structures that don't collapse right away?
 

MythMonger

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6.5 months sounds very precise. As in, I'd expect everyone to wear a timepiece that gives a countdown to when the next shake will happening precise.

Twice a year doesn't sound as precise. If you need wiggle room, you might want to rethink the timing of the event.
 

Woollybear

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My event is definitely predictable, but is not seismic and is not noticed by vast swathes of the population, it just happens and is done, and people ignore it, like the full moon (even though in our real world there are sometimes full moon hikes/parties/wiccan ceremonies, etc.) . However, some few folks on the world are able to tap into the ramifications of the event. Like if someone on our world knew that the full moon meant higher tides and was a water bender so now they could bend the water further because of tidal forces too.

Imagine if there was a dog whistle and no one in the room heard it, but you, the hero, were a rare human who could. And you knew the dog whistle always preceded something that would be tactically useful (this is another analogy, not the actual thing)

You know how animals supposedly all go quiet before an earthquake? Make that a (rare) human skill. How can this be useful to a hero?

Or a canary in a coal mine, which dies before people do when the air thins/etc. But, IRL, the dead canary presages an imminent threat to people. Imagine any animal capability that is beyond normal human sensitivity, and now a rare hero has that, and this becomes useful to the key to the problem.

It's more along those lines. I don't think it is a cheat to the reader, but we'll see what the beta's say. I simplified it in post 1 because I wasn't sure where a device becomes an act of god.

For example, in the moon/tide/water bending ... would building a world with a moon and tides, and then using the tide to solve part of the problem, be considered a cheat or a DeM? I think the answer is no, it's far enough removed from a piano falling from the sky. It is built into the world. On the other hand, the 'moon' is not a clever solution for the hero, it's just related to his ability. But, on the third hand, it's just a small part of the key, too. And, this is story telling.

I love all the feedback! thank you! (And, none of the above are my 'thing,' either.)
 
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mtj0000

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Winning and surviving are not always the same thing, maybe you could have it so the hero's own plan leads to him beating the bad guy, but at the cost of his own life and its your big shake that saves him, and if he wasn't expecting to survive that could lead to a few sticky situations in the next book.
 

benbenberi

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It's more along those lines. I don't think it is a cheat to the reader, but we'll see what the beta's say. I simplified it in post 1 because I wasn't sure where a device becomes an act of god.

As long as you've established it in the story well before you pull it out at the end to save the day, it's not a cheat. Give us fair warning that the world has this quirk and the hero has this ability and it's perfectly fair to use it when it's needed. Even better if it seems to be a minor or trivial or inconvenient thing that isn't particularly useful for anything, and it turns out to be useful in an unexpected but inevitable way!
 

Lady Ice

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It isn't a Deus ex Machina as it has been foreshadowed but it feels like a bit of an easy ending. Fine for a film but if a reader has committed the time to read a full length novel and the hero wins purely because of this event, they might feel cheated.
 

Ji'ire

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If the global shake is mentioned to the reader, then when it happens and saves the day you have given us prior warning but we haven't had to work anything out for ourselves. The reader didn't have to make a logical jump to guess the twist, it was just something that we forgot.
Perhaps a way to divert expectation is by having it not happen, then everyone at the festival that's being held start to freak out and somehow this is what saves the hero (A rogue power-cut?). We know about the festival but aren't actively thinking that it could relate to the situation at hand, which could be surprising.