Stop calling it Deus Ex Machina

[Cheesus Crust]

If you could just get people to stop pronouncing it "deuce," it would be nice. Definitions can wait.

But then how will we know who the people are who make references to things they have no idea about? HOW?

Ok, you've got me there. Fair point. "Deuce" it is.

Best thing I've read today, just awesome hahahaha I'll keep this in mind.

 

[DoPo]

If you're uncomfortable with using the phrase properly, I suggest not using it. Or you can go around and check however many sources you like and tell me if exposition is the only thing deus ex machinas are used for, then I'll agree with you.

I misused 'i.e.' and you read what I wrote about being comfortable with my interpretation of the term and thought you should tell me I'm using it wrong? Because I misused 'i.e.'?

No, because you never acknowledged it in the first place

Let's read this together, shall we?

A deus ex machina is tool used by playwrights to summarise plots to the audience and make connections that they might not have seen, in short to 'cheat' a way out of a complex plot.

That's not what a DEM is. Your definition conforms but is not the definition. Blue is a colour but a colour is not blue. Also, it is not what definition everybody else is usually using it for. As well as the fact that there are a metric fuckton of DEMs in any piece of media, including gaming - the only way to never notice them is if you always held a wrong view of what a DEM is.

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

Mate, Deus Ex Machina is a storytelling method used to unravel a conflict using a sudden intervention by some sort of an omnipotent figure. E.g the 'deus' part of 'deus ex machina'.

Now I haven't played Mass Effect 3 yet but if some sort of a deity comes in and suddenly (and illogically) resolves a huge chunk of plot using what's pretty much magic (as described in the comments) I'm pretty sure that you can call that Deus Ex Machina.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Um... unless I'm mistaken Deus Ex Machina is a Latin term meaning "god from a machine" so the crucible from ME3 would be a quite literal example of Deus Ex Machina.

 

[Dahemo]

You've not defined "Deus Ex Machina" correctly:

Literally "God in the Machine" it's a term from Ancient Greek Tragedy when one of the Pantheon would rise above the set "skene" on a winched platform, the machine, and literally resolve the situation. In common parlance it refers to any person or device that resolves the situation, it has nothing to do with "foreshadowing",you may be thinking of a "Chekov's Gun" where something is introduced which will be significant later (Chekov stated that if a gun is present on stage it must be used at some point, otherwise it's presence serves no purpose) but the degree to which prolepsis is used differs between instances.

The Crucible is a Deus Ex Machina precisely because it is the means by which the conflict resolves, nothing else regarding it affects this status.

In response to your question, my choice would be from Jade Empire, you are constantly told there is "something strange" about your fighting style until:

Spoiler

Your mentor dismantles you using the very flaws he subtly built into your style, which others have noticed but been unable to identify/exploit

Yeah, that would be both a Chekov's Gun and a Deus Ex Machina, although:

Spoiler

It doesn't FINALLY resolve the situation, in fact, your unknown heritage as a Spirit Monk is the real Deus Ex Machina in Jade Empire

My two cents...

 

[llew]

Don't bring up Mass Effect 3, if there's ever been a topic of games I've really grown tired of hearing, it's been this one. :/

Anyways, on topic, I don't think anyone will argue Gears of War 3 didn't go out with a blatant Deus Ex Machina.

That one is arguable, on one hand it was never mentioned that that kind of machine was even thought of, on another hand you were kinda always aware that Adam Fenix was always finding new ways to end wars (jacinto, hammer of dawn) so it is not completely DEM that he could have made something like that during his time missing, and he even stated that it wasn't finished because he was trying to save the locust as well (although that would NEVER have worked out, bad blood between them and humans aside they were aggressive and fuck ugly)

 

[Bertylicious]

Fuck all y'all; I know full well that Juice eh Machine-er-a comes from them stage plays where they'd winch down a load of Gods to sort things out at the end, I was taught about it in school, I just pronounce it funny on account of my being from the midlands.

For shame on you all. What's next, taking the piss out of Americans for not being able to pronounce "arboretum"?

 

[DoPo]

Are you tripping up over my decision to use the word 'summarise'? I'm sorry, by that I mean 'reveal the specifics of the plot so as to cut away a big chunk of exposition' - or, 'to suddenly and abruptly solve[ a problem].'

Yeah, that's not what "summarise" means - that's what got me on the wrong track.

 

[Neonsilver]

Deus Ex Machina is a too-easy un-foreshadowed solution to the plot that occurs at the end of a story. Now while I feel like most people understand what Deus Ex Machina is and when it is used I feel like people are a little to quick to call Deus Ex Machina, even when they shouldn't be.
For Example: Mass Effect 3
Many people's criticize Mass Effect 3 by saying that the Crucible is Deus Ex Machina when simply that isn't that case. The Crucible is foreshadowed in Lair of the Shadow Broker, isn't easy to build and you find out about the Crucible a the starting of Mass Effect 3. A Deus Ex Machina would be if at the end of Mass Effect 3 you discovered that the Reapers were deathly allergic to cream cheese and you used that to defeat them. It wouldn't make sense unless in Mass Effect 1 this dairy related weakness was hinted at.

Sure the above example may not be A+ writing but it isn't Deus Ex Machina.

Any questions, comments, rebuttals or other examples of things unjustly accused of Deus Ex Machina?

PS: I apologize to any Cream-Cheese theory believers who have yet to finish ME3.

The crucible can be counted as a Deus Ex Machina if you take in account that Mass Effect 3 is the ending of Mass Effect.
(Maybe I missed that, but I can't remember anything in Lair of the Shadow Broker foreshadowing the crucible.)
Even if you only count ME3 it is still arguable that anything they do with the crucible is a Deus Ex Machina, because it is never explained what the thing does. Every time it is mentioned you get to hear that they have no idea what it does.

 

[BeeGeenie]

That's certainly not what a deus ex machina is. Gandalf returning from the dead may be, but I don't actually think it is. Deus ex machina has nothing to do with exposition.

A deus ex machina ( /ˈdeɪ.əs ɛks ˈmɑːkiːnə/ or /ˈdiːəs ɛks ˈmækɨnə/ day-əs eks mah-kee-nə;[1] Latin: "god from the machine"; plural: dei ex machina) is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.

I took it from wikipedia but if you want I can google it just as quickly, or even go find a 'good' site.

It's a plot device used to reveal unsolvable problems - i.e. reveal plot. I was a bit too specific saying it was a character that revealed the things, but the core of my definition adheres to the thing I just pasted.

Much like on a recent thread on communism/capitalism, I am extremely comfortable with a view I've held for years now and am not interested in defending a piece of knowledge I've carried through six countries, eight schools, two universities and the wider world to an internet scion.

It's what it means, as far as I'm concerned.

Ahhh, and the Gandalf thing was completely off the top of my head the moment I wrote that post, and while I do think it is still partially correct I hope you can drop it if you choose to riposte.

Resolve =/= reveal. It says right there in the definition you posted that the DEM solves the problem. It has nothing to do with an exposition dump.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

The Catalyst is what people refer to in ME3. It is a Deus Ex Machina in pretty much it's most literal form.

 

[A3sir]

Are you tripping up over my decision to use the word 'summarise'? I'm sorry, by that I mean 'reveal the specifics of the plot so as to cut away a big chunk of exposition' - or, 'to suddenly and abruptly solve[ a problem].'

Just read through the thread, I don't think you really know what it means. You understand that solving something and revealing something are two entirely different things, right? Just in case - reveal is to let people know about something and to solve is to fix/work out an issue. Also summarize is to tell someone/write down the basic notes of something so you or someone else can get the basic gist of what is going on, it is neither revealing nor solving either. I think you think words mean different things than to what they actually mean.

 

[A3sir]

Take two pictures of a pig, rip one in half and give it to a buddy. Wait a moment and then place the whole picture beneath, revealing to your buddy the full picture. The 'big picture', if you will.

Summerize:
Friend: Hey, what's that?
You: It's a picture of a pig.

Reveal:
Friend: Hey, what's that?
You: Here, let me show you. *Proceeds to show picture of a pig.

Also, none of my cases or your cases fulfill solving anything.

 

[hermes]

The AI child at the end of Mass Effect is almost a too perfect example of a Deus Ex Machina. The heroes are surrounded by overwhelming forces, everyone is dying and it seems like they are about to give the final blow. Then, out of an unexpected place, a physical god appears and gives the chance to the protagonist to use incredible (magical) powers to stop the enemy on their tracks throughout the galaxy, instantly and effortlessly.

I liked Mass Effect (even the ending), but there is no denying that its almost too perfect an example of that trope. The only better example that I have is the ending of Planet of the Apes (the Tim Burton one), where the monkey introduced at the beginning descends out of the sky and is confused with a god, so that war stops and humans and apes can make peace with each other.

 

[James Joseph Emerald]

A deus ex machina is tool used by playwrights to summarise plots to the audience and make connections that they might not have seen, in short to 'cheat' a way out of a complex plot. Gandalf plays a deus ex machina when he comes back to Gimli, Aragorn and Legolas in The Two Towers and fills them in on just about everything.

Sorry to gang up on you, but that's simply incorrect.
What you're describing here is gratuitous exposition, which is completely different from deus ex machina. The latter does not necessarily involve any summarising, and in some cases is left completely unexplained (i.e. the opposite of what you've described).

In simple terms, a deus ex machina is any resolution to a conflict which hasn't been properly set up beforehand. You could argue that in Star Wars Episode VI, the Death Star having a really convenient weak spot was a deus ex machina. The reason why this weak spot exists is never explained to the audience or even mentioned ever again.

 

[DoPo]

Yeah, that's not what "summarise" means - that's what got me on the wrong track.

What is this the three stooges? Is it you every time, DoPo? Seriously...

Holy cow on a barbecue. You're focusing on 'summarize' vs. 'reveal'?

You really need to go eat a giant slice of "get off denseWorm's back".

If you summarize a plot to an audience that does not know the entirety of the plot, you are revealing the plot to them. Take two pictures of a pig, rip one in half and give it to a buddy. Wait a moment and then place the whole picture beneath, revealing to your buddy the full picture. The 'big picture', if you will.

Re-read that as many times as it takes.

*sigh*


Once again, blue is a colour but colour is not blue. Summary can reveal plot, but a plot revelation is not a summary. I can summarise that you've been choosing the wrong words consistently throughout your posts, but that would not be new information. I can summarise the plot of a movie you hadn't seen and it would be new information. I will reveal the plot, in that case.

 

[Madman123456]

deus ex machina=God in the Machine.
Mass effect 3 presented us with the most literal god in the machine that i have ever seen. A Machine is brought in to tie up all lose threads, foreshadowed or not, into a nice bow and it does so with godlike Powers.

 

[A3sir]

Also, none of my cases or your cases fulfill solving anything.

How about:

friend: Hey, what's this a picture of?
you: it's a picture of a pig. You see, there's a half missing and I've got it here in my pocket *rustle* See?
friend: ah, it has been revealed! thanks, Russel!

gnnnnn'yah.

And hey, you're the one who started picking your nose over the use of 'summarize'

Yes, in that case you are summarizing, solving and revealing, you are doing three actions, which are not all the same thing.

And yes, people are getting confused with you because you are using the words summarize, reveal and solve wrong, they do NOT all mean the same thing.

 

[Treblaine]

If you could just get people to stop pronouncing it "deuce," it would be nice. Definitions can wait.

Better than "day of sex macarena" which is how so many do pronounce it.

 

[jklinders]

Deus Ex Machina is a too-easy un-foreshadowed solution to the plot that occurs at the end of a story. Now while I feel like most people understand what Deus Ex Machina is and when it is used I feel like people are a little to quick to call Deus Ex Machina, even when they shouldn't be.
For Example: Mass Effect 3
Many people's criticize Mass Effect 3 by saying that the Crucible is Deus Ex Machina when simply that isn't that case. The Crucible is foreshadowed in Lair of the Shadow Broker, isn't easy to build and you find out about the Crucible a the starting of Mass Effect 3. A Deus Ex Machina would be if at the end of Mass Effect 3 you discovered that the Reapers were deathly allergic to cream cheese and you used that to defeat them. It wouldn't make sense unless in Mass Effect 1 this dairy related weakness was hinted at.

Sure the above example may not be A+ writing but it isn't Deus Ex Machina.

Any questions, comments, rebuttals or other examples of things unjustly accused of Deus Ex Machina?

PS: I apologize to any Cream-Cheese theory believers who have yet to finish ME3.

The point-you have missed it entirely.

let's first examine the origin of the term. The Greeks used it as a way to resolve the plot by bringing in a God to fix the problem. This god was lowered into the stage by a rope and pulley. The Starchild was literally dropped down from the ceiling just like one of the God characters from these old Greek plays. Homer himself was probably facepalming in his 2500 year old grave at how little we have apparently learned since his time.

The Starchild was not foreshadowed at all. Offered a multiple choice solution to the problem which fixed the issue on a galaxy wide scale. Sound pretty freaking Godlike to me.


I have never seen a more literal interpretation of Deus ex Machina in any modern media as this. Well, Deus Ex Human Revolution came pretty darn close.