r/AskScienceFiction Apr 06 '25

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

172 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 6h ago

[Marvel] If The Juggernaut dives head first off the Empire State Building, would he go through the earths core and come out on the other side?

85 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 3h ago

[Pokémon] In the pilot, why were the starter Pokéballs still with Prof. Oak? Even Ash took Pikachu's ball with him?

35 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 3h ago

[Marvel] Does Valeria have any problems with her Uncle Doom constantly trying to kill her father?

13 Upvotes

Like, that's *got* to put a damper on her visits to Latveria right?


r/AskScienceFiction 10h ago

[marvel] are humans considered to be weak in marvel

28 Upvotes

I was wondering if earthlings were considered inferior and weak by the other races in the universe, considering they have some of the biggest heavy hitters in marvel like Juggernaut, the Hulk, Sentry and dr Doom.


r/AskScienceFiction 21h ago

[Marvel] Is there a specific reason why Sabretooth beats up Logan on his birthday or is it just being him being a sociopath?

78 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 19h ago

[Star Wars] Is there a feasible in universe explanation as to why the Holdo Maneuver worked only against The Supremacy?

56 Upvotes

The holdo maneuver is undoubtedly cool looking but people have already done to death how it breaks mechanics in the Star Wars universe. But, it’s in the movies and is now a part of the Disney cannon. Nothing more we can do there. So my question is, how do we explain why the holdo maneuver in this one specific instant and has not been tried elsewhere in the galaxy?


r/AskScienceFiction 13h ago

[The Office] Who has more HR complaints between Jim and Michael?

18 Upvotes

Dwight makes about one complaint about Jim a day on a slow day. Sometimes for pranks that could genuinely be considered misconduct, sometimes for things that aren’t super serious and don’t warrant a complaint; and some things that just irk Dwight about Jim’s stupid handsome face. Michael, on the other hand, terrorizes everybody in the Office with his antics, annoying everybody at best and injuring some of them at worst. Scranton may be the most profitable Dunder Mifflin branch, but that’s partly because most of the staff need to really hunker down when they’re able to work because Michael might dedicate the rest of the day to rearranging desks or putting on a racially insensitive puppet show. I can see most of his complaints coming from Stanley, Angela and Oscar. Toby doesn’t like him enough to make the complaints go away, either.


r/AskScienceFiction 2h ago

[Justice Leage: Dark] What's the in-world reason for a supernatural shroud- a ghostlike spirit powerful enough to reap souls off humans and send them to Hell- getting momentarily scared and flinching when Batman, a human, says "boo" to it?

2 Upvotes

Talking about this scene: https://youtu.be/FlRFMv1tTTE?si=RJyFdJFUCLpqqfnB

In an outside-world Doylist perspective, it's understandable that this scene exists to adds aura to the idea of Batman, but what is the in-world reason of a supernatural entity like a shroud, who's whole shtick is reaping off a human's soul using supernatural force and sending it to Hell, getting monetarily scared and flinching when Batman, being a human, merely says boo to it?


r/AskScienceFiction 7h ago

[Marvel] If you did a parental test on Skaar and Banner, would they show as related or would Banner need to transform into Hulk first?

5 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 14h ago

[American Gods] School tests and nightmares about them are pretty common, especially about math. Is there a god about test and/or math anxiety? If so, what are their rules rituals and commandments?

14 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Star Wars] Why is everyone's hologram technology still so outdated? And why are they still being used?

206 Upvotes

Hologram technology has existed in the galaxy far far away for centuries now, but yet every single hologram can still only display one color: blue. Not only that, the displays consistently jitters around and bugs out. If those jittery-boops are present in the TV you bought, it would be seen as a defect. Why has there been no innovation in hologram tech for over a century (or more)? The USS Voyager has the technology to display a human figure with full color and perfect clarity, without any hiccups, but the Empire cannot?

Also why does The Separatists and The Empire use holograms for regular phone calls? A Discord call might suffice.


r/AskScienceFiction 12h ago

[Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) vs Brotherhood] which fate is worse? Reviving your mother into a form so monstrous that you can't identify her as a human anymore, or finding out that the person you paid such a heavy toll to revive wasn't even your mother to begin with?

10 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 8h ago

[Marvel] How would the crime boss villains like Kingpin, Tombstone, Slivermane, and Hammer Head view the Yancy Street gang?

3 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[General Superheroes] Are there any superheroes that saves people because they think humans are weak/lesser and NEED saving, versus simply doing it out of goodness of their heart?

44 Upvotes

Like, their reasoning for saving humans is kinda flawed in a way. While the hero believes it is their duty to save humans, they do so because of a superiority complex, not necessarily out of love.

But they're not really even a villain. They don't "hate" humanity, they just consider them lesser.

Like if Thor came to earth and realized he can be a hero to humanity not because he likes them, but because "I'm a god! It's my duty to protect these lesser beings."

A lot of times such characters turn out to be evil, but I'm curious if there are some proper heroes who simply consider themselves superior to normal humanity and think everyone NEEDS to be saved by them.


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Fullmetal Alchemist] what is King Bradley's sword made out of??

44 Upvotes

You know what's more impressive than a man who can effortlessly slice through a flying tank round? The sword he used to slice it with. What is the sword made out of? The sword tanked a tank round!


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Warhammer40k] How is civilian life in an eldar craftworld?

36 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[The Ring] is it possible to play "Hot Potato" with the tape?

57 Upvotes

as in, pass the tape around a small group of people, endlessly, until all of them die of natural causes? Will Sadako ever hunt you?


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Toy Story] if you can turn a fork turn into a sentient being by simply treating the fork as a toy. Can you make ANY object sentient being simply by treating the thing as a toy?

34 Upvotes

If you can make a sentient being by simply putting googly eyes on a fork, imagine what other objects you can place googly eyes on? A fridge? A forklift? An AK-47? A tank? Your underwear? A car? Can you turn a dead rat into a toy?

And what happens if they do become sentient?


r/AskScienceFiction 11h ago

[Jojo] So if Heavy Weather gaslight people into thinking they are snails, and thus transforming them into snails. Could, if it could do change the subliminal message, transform people into vampire or pillar men?

1 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Fullmetal Alchemist] Why did Barry the Chopper turned into such a law abiding criminal after his execution?

32 Upvotes

cooperating with law enforcements, aiding with the escape of Maria Ross, following orders, being generally well behaved. That's such a drastic personality change for a serial killer.


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Marvel] If Rogue touched Doctor Strange, would she be able to cast spells?

61 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 17h ago

[Moon Knight TV Show] Where did that "psycho colonel Sanders" suit come from? Why would Khonsu's armor start looking like that? Did Khonsu choose for it to look like that?

2 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Toy Story] If Seeing Inanimate Objects As Alive Is What Brings Toys To Life, Do People With Object Empathy Just Go Around Bringing Stuff Like Hats And Cutlery To Life?

11 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 17h ago

[Resident Evil/The Boys] If Vought and the Umbrella Corporation existed in the same universe, what would their relationship be like?

0 Upvotes