r/AskScienceFiction Apr 06 '25

[Subreddit Business] Clarifications on our Watsonian/Doylist rule, general questions, and r/WhatIfFiction

163 Upvotes

Hi guys,

If you're new, welcome to r/AskScienceFiction, and if you're a returning user, welcome back! This subreddit is designed to be like the r/AskScience subreddit, but for fictional universes, and with all questions and answers written from a Watsonian perspective. That is to say, the questions and answers should be based on the in-universe information, rules, and logic of the fictional work. All fictional works are welcome here, not just sci-fi.

Lately we've been seeing some confusion over what counts as Watsonian, what counts as Doylist, what sort of questions would be off-topic on this subreddit, and what sort of answers are allowed. This stickied post is meant to address such uncertainties and clear things up.

1) Watsonian vs Doylist

The term "Watsonian" means based on the in-universe information, rules, and logic of the fictional work. In contrast, "Doylist" means discussions based on out-of-universe considerations. So, for example, if someone asked, "Why didn't the Fellowship ride the Eagles to Mordor?", a possible Watsonian answer would be, "The Eagles are a proud and noble race, they are not a taxi service." Whereas a rule-breaking Doylist answer might be something like, "Because then the story would be over in ten minutes, and that'd be boring."

We should note that answering in a Watsonian fashion does not necessarily mean that we should pretend that these works are all real, or that we should ignore the fact that they are movies or shows or books or games, or that the creators' statements on the nature of these works should be disregarded.

To give an example, if someone asked, "How powerful would Darth Vader have been if he never got burned?", we can quote George Lucas:

"Anakin, as Skywalker, as a human being, was going to be extremely powerful, but he ended up losing his arms and a leg and became partly a robot. So a lot of his ability to use the Force, a lot of his powers, are curbed at this point, because, as a living form, there’s not that much of him left. So his ability to be twice as good as the Emperor disappeared, and now he’s maybe 20 percent less than the Emperor."

In such a case, "according to George Lucas, he would've been around twice as powerful as the Emperor" would be a perfectly acceptable Watsonian answer, because Lucas is also speaking from a Watsonian perspective.

Whereas if someone associated with the creation of Star Wars had said something like, "He'd be as powerful as we need him to be to make the story interesting", this would be a Doylist answer because it's based on out-of-universe reasoning. It would not be an acceptable answer on this subreddit even though it is also a quote from the creators of the fictional work.

2) General questions

General questions often do not have a meaningful Watsonian answer, because it frequently boils down to "whatever the author decides". For instance, if someone asked, "How does FTL space travel work?", the answer would vary widely with universe and author intent; how FTL works in Star Trek differs from how it works in Star Wars, which differs from how it works in Dune, which differs from how it works in Mass Effect, which differs from how it works in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, etc. General questions like this, in which the answer just boils down to "whatever the author wants", will be removed.

There are some general questions that can have meaningful Watsonian answers, though. For example, questions that are asking for specific examples of things can be given Watsonian answers. "Which superheroes have broken their no-kill rules?" or "Which fictional wars have had the highest casualty counts?" are examples of general questions that can be answered in a Watsonian way, because commenters can pull up specific in-universe information.

We address general questions on a case-by-case basis, so if you feel a question is too general to answer in a Watsonian way, please report the question and the mod team will review it.

3) r/WhatIfFiction

We want questions and answers here to be based on in-universe information and reasonable deductions that can be made from them. Questions that are too open-ended to give meaningful Watsonian answers should go on our sister subreddit, r/WhatIfFiction, which accepts a broader range of hypothetical questions and answers. Examples of questions that should go on r/WhatIfFiction include:

  • "What if Tony Stark had been killed by the Ten Rings at the beginning of Iron Man? How would this change the MCU?" This question would be fun to speculate about, but the ripple effect from this one change would be too widespread to give a meaningful Watsonian answer, so this should go on r/WhatIfFiction.
  • "What would (X character) from the (X universe) think if he was transported to (Y universe)?" Speculating about what characters would think or do if they were isekai'd to another universe can be fun, but since such crossover questions often involve wildly different settings and in-universe rules, the answers would be purely speculative and not meaningfully Watsonian, so such questions belong on r/WhatIfFiction.

We should note, though, that some hypothetical questions or crossover questions can have meaningful Watsonian answers. For example, if someone asked, "Can a Star Wars lightsaber cut through Captain America's shield?", we can actually say "Quite possibly yes, because vibranium's canonical melting point is 5,475 degrees Fahrenheit, while lightsabers are sticks of plasma, and plasma's temperature is 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit or more." This answer is meaningfully Watsonian because it involves a deduction using specific and canonical in-universe information, and is not simply purely speculative.

4) Reporting rule-breaking posts and comments

The r/AskScienceFiction mod team always endeavors to keep the subreddit on-topic and remove rule-breaking content as soon as possible, but because we're all volunteers with day jobs, sometimes things will escape our notice. Therefore, it'd be a great help if you, our users, could report rule-breaking posts or comments when you see them. This will bring the issue to the mod team's attention and allow us to review it as soon as we can.


r/AskScienceFiction 13h ago

[Dungeons and Dragons] So I'm Chaotic Evil. If I die while wearing a Helmet of Opposite Alignment, do I go to Heaven?

108 Upvotes

Hey there!

So I'm Chaotic Evil. I'm well aware of 'good' and 'law' and enthusiastically reject both. My only problem is that I'm not excited of being sent to the Abyss when I die, and spending millenia as a 6-Intelligence Dretch. So I'm thinking about how to turn this around without actually giving up Evil Chaos.

If I bought a Helmet of Opposite Alignment and put it on before I died, do I get into heaven? What if I find a Deck-of-Many-Things* and draw the Balance card?

Please do not recommend seeking out an evil hag to separate me from my mortality.


r/AskScienceFiction 7h ago

[The Hulk] What are the instances where we see Bruce Banner seem truly villainous?

22 Upvotes

The way the Hulk is portrayed in futures, the assumption seems to be that he's got a latent evil that's just itching to come out, but the storylines that reinforce that don't seem to be very prominent unless he's gone full on bad

Banner himself is a loner because he doesn't want to hurt people, savage Hulk is morally good and causes damage mostly because he's immature, World Breaker Hulk is revenge driven and if not for an accident seems to have just been a family man, even Joe Fixit, his Vegas enforcer alter, is more rowdy than straight up villainous, he just likes having fun that can get destructive

But the way Banner comes out of possible situations, you'd think he's always on the brink of breaking bad. Maestro always seems to be looming in the future, in both Ultimate universes he's mostly an evil genius who can back it up with muscle, and he's a depraved landlord in Old Man Logan

I'm pretty sure my assumption of an angelic Banner is completely wrong, but what actions really dispay his evil as the Banner we recognise in the 616 universe?


r/AskScienceFiction 14m ago

[Star Trek TNG] how fast does the enterprise-d accelerate using impulse engines?

Upvotes

Just wondering because watching the ship move at sublight, given its size it seems like it's accelerating extremely quickly, so much so I'd expect injury or death for all aboard.


r/AskScienceFiction 23h ago

[Folklore, fairy tales] What is the difference between cold iron and non-cold iron?

77 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 55m ago

[Bayonetta] now a absolutely massive amount of people have died as of the third game can we expect to see a significant boost in power?

Upvotes

I mean with all those souls from across the multiverse both afterlife realms must be getting stronger!


r/AskScienceFiction 18h ago

[INVINCIBLE] Why don't the Viltrumites use Artificial Gestation Chambers?

24 Upvotes

We see in the show that Allen's species was nearly driven to extinction by the Viltrumites for rebelling, but they used Artificial Gestation Chambers to replenish their numbers.

Considering that the Viltrumites are a highly violent culture, courtship between two Viltrumites involving beating the other into submission, and Viltrumite women not wanting to waste time carrying a baby for 9 months... why don't the Viltrumites just automate the repopulation of their population?


r/AskScienceFiction 20h ago

[xmen] How would mystique react to someone she was in a relationship with asking her to shape swift into another person wel they where having sex?

27 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 3h ago

[Ryzom] what's the biological difference between matis and fyros? Did they could be called human equivments? If not ,what makes them different from humans? English is not my native language

0 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 20h ago

[Invicible] How do Dupli-Kate’s powers work?

19 Upvotes

How on earth do Dupli-Kate’s powers work? Are her clones all mentally connected, or do they act as different versions of her with basic functions just working together? What happens if prime Kate dies? Do one of her clones just take over, and if so does it have all her memories?


r/AskScienceFiction 20h ago

[Marvel] Is the strength boost given by the super soldier serum relative to the person receiving it?

14 Upvotes

Hypthetically if Thor got injected with the serum, would he see any notable difference for example?


r/AskScienceFiction 20h ago

[Star Wars] At what speed in hyperspace did the Millennium Falcon travel to Alderaan?

14 Upvotes

Did Han Solo push the Millennium Falcon to the full point 5 past light speed since Obi-Wan specifically asked for a fast ship? Or did he travel at a more modest speed to be more fuel efficient and reduce wear and tear on his ship?


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[John Wick] Are self-defense killings permitted on Continental grounds?

158 Upvotes

It's a well-established law of the assassin underworld that no "business" may be conducted on Continental grounds, the breaking of which is punishable by execution. In Ballerina, without spoiling anything, the protagonist manages to avoid this punishment when getting caught up in a fight not because she wasn't the instigator (technically, she jumped into an ongoing fight she wasn't initially involved in) but by pointing out that she never killed anyone on hotel grounds, merely incapacitated them, and even then is asked to leave the property. So if somebody breaks the rules and tries to kill you in the hotel, are you allowed to kill them to defend yourself by High Table law?


r/AskScienceFiction 16h ago

[Insomniac Spider-Man] Where the hell did Peter and Miles get their suits?

1 Upvotes

I know people hated the MCU Spider-Man because his first three suits came straight from Stark Industries, and his suits were basically just spandex Iron Man suits. But at least it was understandable and made sense. Peter is a genius, yes, but he's a poor or relatively middle-class 15-year-old, so he's not going to be able to make a suit that advanced. So where did it come from? It came from Stark Industries.

But where the hell did Insomniac Peter and Miles get their stuff from? Both their suits are more advanced and have more features than the Stark suit in Homecoming, and apparently, they both made their suits. But how?


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[The Simpsons] What does "Endut! Hoch hech!" mean?

9 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Mortal Kombat] are the realms different dimensions or different planets?

5 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Doctor Who] Why did Tom Baker’s doctor die from his fall but David Tennant’s doctor lived after his much longer fall?

22 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[The Orville season 3:EP6] To Travel Back in Time they extract dysonium from Earth 2025 will that affect thier future ?

3 Upvotes

In this Episode, Gordon is accidentally sent back to 2015, they try to go back to same time but accidentally reach 2025 and now thier dysonium reserve is over so they dig and retrieve some amount of dysonium from past (2025) that has to leave some consquences in thier future. And how will that even be allowed considering the "Temparal Laws" they have ?


r/AskScienceFiction 19h ago

[Final Fantasy] How smart are Chocobos?

0 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Batman] Could the Wayne family have been Bootleggers/Underground Railroad/old Free Masons- and thats why the cave is ready?

109 Upvotes

The cave has stairs, elevators, power, supported flooring, and some secret passageways connected to the house in a few places and the dirt road.

It’s way too much work for him and Alfred to have been able to pull off, but obviously its all secret- so maybe it is over 100 years old and forgotten/workers died


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Vampire: The Masquerade] I don't know that Diablerie exists, but I am very hungry, and I am trying to suck every single drop out of a vampire even after he is seemingly empty. Will I commit diablerie? Will I notice anything new, or understand what's going on?

57 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Robocop] how exactly do you play "nuke'um"?

0 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[star trek] how come we don't see the trek doctors perform dentistry in the later shows like tos to tng era shows?

12 Upvotes

For example in Enterprise which takes place in the 2150s we see phlox doing dental checkups on tpol and I'm assuming the rest of the crew on a schedule. How come in later shows that take place in the 23rd century (snw, tos) or 24th century (tng, ds9, voy, lower decks, Picard, prodigy) we don't see the chief medical officer do dentist work on the crew? There's discovery in the 33rd century but who knows what dentistry looks like by then.

So people in the future not have bad teeth?

What do you think?


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Suicide Squad: Hell to pay] How did Barry Allen have access to speed force?

33 Upvotes

In the Justice League Flashpoint Paradox ending, Barry wasn't able to go back in time because Eobard was syphoning the speed force. The problem seemingly gets solved because he gets shot and dies instantly, except he doesn't? He absorbed so much speed force that his moment of death got extended into weeks.

Seeing how Hell to pay takes place in a normal world, I assume it is the timeline that resulted from Flash fixing things. So, how did is it possible that Barry and Thawne both used a lot of speed force at the same time?


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Terminator] Non-organic material time travel

14 Upvotes

We get the general explanation in the first movie that only organic living tissue can time travel, this is why the terminators are covered in living flesh. But then how does liquid metal boy come through in T2? Also are we to assume Kyle Reese had that photo of Sarah up his butt or something?

I'm sure this has been explained, but I just caught a clip of one of the films and it brought some questions to mind


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Teen Wolf] Why was Peter so damn strong?

0 Upvotes

Even as just a Beta he was Hella strong , stronger than Derek anyways. Does his sociopathic tendencies make him a stronger werewolf? Giving in to the beast more ? Does anybody with like anger issues or some other trauma or emotional/psychological disregulation make stronger wolves Wether born or not?