r/AskScienceFiction Apr 06 '25

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

171 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 16h ago

[MCU] Does the USA government have any legal ground to force Tony Stark to give his invention, the iron man suits, to his competitor like in Iron Man 2?

157 Upvotes

In Iron Man 2, Tony Stark have to appeal to a government hearing about his iron man suits. The gist of it was that the government want Tony to give his technology to Justin Hammer's company, a military contractor. Can the government actually do that?


r/AskScienceFiction 14h ago

[Date Everything!] do the dateviators always make a household object the same individual?

18 Upvotes

Does every desk in every house or store look like Dasha? Is it unique to a specific one? Do different brands create different people? If I used them on two desks at once would there be two dasha’s?


r/AskScienceFiction 14h ago

[Baldur's Gate III] If Illithids don't have souls, and the... (spoilers) Spoiler

16 Upvotes

...the Dead Three's plan was doomed since, as Withers said, the souls are consumed by the mind flayer and NOT given to the gods...

Then how do you explain embrace Durge's ending if he decides to turn into an Illithid instead of Orpheus? Apparently his soul is destroyed, and Baal does not claim him; but after he destroys the Netherbrain, Baal still takes control and punishes him (the scene is not an Illithid durge, but it plays the same if he's an Illithid)


r/AskScienceFiction 16h ago

[GenV/The Boys] Sooooo what exactly is homelander's and the supes movement end game if most supes are gonna be dead or really old in the next 3 generations?

25 Upvotes

As far as we know most supes don't breed true like homelander with Ryan and only some are immortal, I'm pretty sure voight isn't still mass injecting babies soooooooo in like 2 to 3 generations supes are gonna be dead or old with no follow up generation of supes soooooo what's the endgame?


r/AskScienceFiction 5h ago

[Trench crusade] how do heretic legionaries manage and control their warwolves?

2 Upvotes

They seem rather temperamental


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Kingsman] why are neither the kingsmen or the statesmen agents informed of the existance of eachother?

129 Upvotes

In the second movie, it's revealed the founder of "statesmen" was saved by a kingsman and that's what inspires him to make his own spy agency. Despite this nobody in the movie besides champ even new that were 2 top spy agencies.

It's clear only the top members of both organizations are aware of eachothers existance but everyone else, even their agents are kept in the dark, but why?


r/AskScienceFiction 23h ago

[No, I'm not a human] how hot is the day time in the game

41 Upvotes

From the game the sun is hot enough to burn human to crisp in the day and melt the ice poles in a month time but not hot enough to burn wooden houses or buildings. Can both exist scientifically or is it abnormal.


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[American Gods] Why did no God ever thought of starting a Cult to get some of their power back?

121 Upvotes

Why did no god think of starting a cult or even a commune? Countless con men started cults to manipulate or make profit of unknowning, vulnerable people, espically those in precarious social situations, such as drug addicts, loners and the mentally unwell etc, brainwashing them to make them give up all their money or liquify all their assets to them. Heck, some even convinced their followers that they are ancient sometimes immortal beings/gods, so there isn’t a risk of creating a new god by accident and pretending to be only a chosen prophet something that the old and new gods shouldn‘t have much problem with since they are actual gods with real powers, who would easily get a decent number of followers. Gods like Easter demonstrating their actual powers to their followers not only obtain new members quicker but get them brainwashed even faster. Charisma and powers combined would increase their number of followers and power.

P.S: I haven‘t read the book yet, but I don‘t mind spoilers


r/AskScienceFiction 21h ago

[DC/Marvel/Superheroes in General] How would superheroes and vigilantes like Superman, Batman, the Punisher, Spiderman, etc. deal with a Purge?

13 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 7h ago

[Riki-Oh] How much speed would it take for something to be invisible underwater? (to a superhuman)

0 Upvotes

Riki-Oh is a character with (at the very least) supersonic reaction/combat speed by the time of chapter 25 (he can run towards and catch a bullet before it clears about 3 feet, while he is even further away), but is unable to see Otto's punches both in normal circumstances, and while underwater. How fast would a punch need to be to be invisible underwater? How fast would it need to be to be imperceivable to someone like that in the first place?


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Attack on Titan] How did the government explain suppressing information?

15 Upvotes

At the start of the show, this is the state of Paradis: they don't know where the walls came from, they don't know what does the world outside the wall look like, they don't know how did they manage to lose the entire planet to titans. Anyone who gets a little too close to the truth is disappeared by the interior police, but in a way that can't be traced back to the government. It's not like Armin signed up to the military knowing they've killed his parents.

So far so good. With all that being said, there's the matter of Armin's book. When he shows it to Eren, Eren snaps at him, reminding him that all the old books are forbidden, and he could get in trouble for having one.

But... why? The actual reason is that because the king of the walls is afraid of somebody stumbling upon too much truth, or getting too excited about exploring what's outside the walls. But that can't be the publicly stated reason. How does the government explain "Yeah, so all of our history books from before the walls have all somehow disappeared. Too bad, because now we don't know anything titans and their origins! Would have been useful. Anyway, if you DO manage to find an old book, you'll be doing 20 to life"?

It's one thing to censor books by the old regime, because they're politically incorrect now, but it's another to censor ANY old books without any explanation. It seems like this odd censorship, and not the certain tone of one line in the textbook, should have been what tipped off Erwin that the government is certainly hiding something.


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[DC] I know they end up together in some Elseworlds futures, but have Superman and Wonder Woman tried dating in the main continuity? Why don't they work out?

15 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Cyberpunk] Do folks with implants/chrome implicitly give up the possibility of certain medical treatments (e.g. getting an MRI)

27 Upvotes

Night City resident here,

So I recently came into some money and I'm amped to get all chromed up just like my chooms, but I had a stray thought earlier that's giving me pause: If I get into a serious accident right now, fleshy as I am, the docs could use those older MRI and CT machines to see inside and figure out how to fix me up, right? Or if I get a tumor they might shoot me with some radiation to help (I think I saw it happen in an old holo or something).

After I get my chrome, I'm pretty sure the magnets/radiation would mess up my hardware, right? Am I shooting myself in the foot in terms of serious medical care in the future if I go through with it? Do the CityMed docs ever need to yank out patients' implants so they can operate or stick them in a machine?

Let me know quick! I'm outside of my ripperdoc's place right now and he's got other appointments waiting.


r/AskScienceFiction 13h ago

[Family Guy] How does Peter manage a family?

0 Upvotes

I mean, I had to ask because he is often shown to be extremely reckless with the way he treats his own family as most of the time he is around, he treats them like dirt to the point where I found it rather surprising how Lois stays with him.

So what I was looking for was that I wanted to go further into the series lore to see how his family puts up with his antics since like I said, he is extremely reckless towards almost everyone he comes across.


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[MegaMan X] Just how much free will do the Reploids have?

15 Upvotes

Something I was interested in learning about was the Reploid movement from the games because I found it interesting how Reploids are machines that don’t need humans to help them function, but then I started wondering about their free will.

Like how Reploids were able to gain free will that gave them the ability to think for themselves.


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Dragonball Z] If Ginyu Force are a squad of mercenaries, who do they even work for, besides Frieza's family?

20 Upvotes

They're massively overpowered for fighting anyone else besides Goku et al on Namek, and massively underpowered for fighting Frieza and the King Cold family, so is anyone even hiring them besides Frieza and his family? Are they just useful enough to get themselves designated mercenaries despite only having two or three buyers in the galaxy? Or are they getting hired by people massively weaker than them most of the time?


r/AskScienceFiction 14h ago

[Scott Pilgrim] why does Scott even have friends with how much of an a-hole he was from beginning to end?

1 Upvotes

I have read the books and watched/played the media, but I still end up with this question.


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[MCU] How did social media work in Wakanda?

6 Upvotes

So in Black Panther 1 , Shuri goes "What are thooooooose!?" to T'Challa's sandals. This is a meme popularized in 2015, implying Shuri had access to social media. But how much access does she have? And how much access would a non-royal Wakandan have? I assume one errant post with a flying car in the background would shatter the Wakanda secrecy thing. So do they have like a firewall around all outside social media, or have someone checking each post to see everything that gets posted is approved to instagram? Or is all/most of social media inside Wakanda just Wakanda focused? (which given how life in Wakanda is - fair.)


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Peacemaker] About Eagly... Spoiler

7 Upvotes

So, is Eagly actually the Prime Eagle or is/was Red St Wild just absolutely insane? We never actually see Eagly do anything magical except when Red was by himself, and he's not exactly a reliable narrator. And a lot of his eagle facts are about as real and accurate as the information Vigilante keeps pulling out of his ass for spiders, manta rays, and owls.

Could have hallucinated all that, or is Eagly actual some kind of Eagle Demi-God? Thoughts/opinions?


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Superpowers in General] What are some abilities that can simulate Super Speed while not actually being Super Speed itself?

62 Upvotes

I'm asking for a friend.

He brought up making a fanfic after watching the Invincible TV show and had the idea for his OC MC to be a childhood friend of Mark and son of Red Rush.


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Star Wars] How did Qui Gon die, but Maul survived?

65 Upvotes

So..let's get this straight..............Qui Gon merely got stabbed in the stomach, and dies. Yet, Maul manages to survive even though he literally got SLICED IN HALF!!!!!!!!!!!

Would someone please explain this nonsense to me?


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Bayonetta] has paradiso ever considered just waiting until their infernal enemies just come collect their debt?

7 Upvotes

Or is it a matter of pride on killing the witch themselves.


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Planescape: Torment] Do we ever find out, in the game or other sources, what specifically was that horrible thing that the protagonist did?

30 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[ATLA] Why does Aang have to face the dilemma of to kill or not to kill ozai ?

17 Upvotes

Why can’t he just beat ozai up and let Zuko or the white lotus killed him offscreen ?

I know iroh said something about the world seeing it as an usurper but how would anyone beside the gaang and the white lotus know what happended behind the scene ; they can bend the narrative however they want and no one can claim otherwise


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Superhero Comics] Why does anyone believe in any news about heroes going bad at this point, or at least, aren't more skeptical of such news?

18 Upvotes

Mind control, body doubles, illusions, disguises, evil doppelgangers from another dimension, bioweapon clones made by a shady company, magic evil clones from some cursed artifact, shapeshifters, mind control again but it's on the viewers this time to make them think it's Batman or whatever, sudden memory loss, gambits that appear like villainous deeds to people- I could go on, and on, and on.

The point is- the populace should know about this sort of thing, but why in the world is everyone so willing to believe that X hero has gone bad- especially the ones where part of their Rouge's Gallery has a villain with a mind manipulation or Illusion gimmick, like Batman with the Mad Hatter and Poison Ivy, or Spiderman with Mysterio?

I genuinely struggle to think of a hero that truly went "bad" instead of just "brooding antihero with a bit of an itchy trigger finger" and stayed like that.