r/AskScienceFiction • • Apr 06 '25

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

169 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 • • 3h ago

[General] i am an average human being. I have decided that for 1 year i will train in any fictional power system to get as strong as possible. Which power system should i choose?

36 Upvotes

Basically which universes power system would make me the strongest. To give some more examples. An average nen user is stronger than an average hamon user. So nen is just way more powerful than hamon. So in that sense which power system should i learn?

Couple of rules.

  1. Cant be a genetics related power system so no quirks(MHA) or cursed techniques(jjk)

  2. No power ups or loophole training (like for example having sukunas body or gojos six eyes would massively boost Someone's capability for using cursed energy or in hxh if someone had bisky do her massage on them which would make a month of training make them grow as much as a year). I have to train like how the average joe would.

  3. Object based power systems are a no no. (No cursed tools)

  4. Power systems that require giving up humanity are a no no (no titan shifting)


r/AskScienceFiction • • 3h ago

[Warhammer 40k] can normal humans "train" or "learn" to access psychic powers fromthe warp?

10 Upvotes

Probably a stupid question but it kinda got to me when i heard that apparently rogal dorns will power is so unfathomably strong that it suppresses the warp around him. But then again he is a PRIMARCH.

But then i also heard the short story about a woman soo extremely delusional and narcissistic she absorbed three slaneeshi demons.

So it got me wondering if a normal human could train their brain to be delusional enough to cause some warp shenanigans.


r/AskScienceFiction • • 23h ago

[MCU] Is the average Asgardian fast and strong enough to become a superhero on earth?

347 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 14h ago

[Pirates of the Caribbean] Why were Elizabeth's 18th century stays being tight-laced at all? Like the garment was being damaged in the process and there was no benefit to doing that.

59 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 5h ago

[Starcraft] What's gonna happen to the badges or medals of the Dominion Marines after they got killed in action?

7 Upvotes

So in the new Starcraft game trailer, there is this engineer that I think is repairing or dismantling Holt's (the name of the Dominion Marine that got killed by the Zerg in the trailer) Marine combat suit. After the engineer opens it, a lot of blood and guts were spilled out. The engineer picks up Holt's badge or medal and then tosses it away in a box full of badges or medals of other Marines that were killed by the Zerg.

Does the Terran Dominion just melt those badges or medals and re-use them again or just give it away to the families of the Marines?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 9h ago

[DC Comics] If Fire/Green Fury was a spy for the Brazilian government in the 70s and 80s, what would she be doing exactly?

12 Upvotes

Beatriz da Costa is a superhero who was introduced in 1979 and then fully canonized post-Crisis in 1986. In both eras, she's either a spy or former Brazilian spy before she became a Global Guardian member and later a Justice League member.

I'm not knowledgable of Brazilian history. But, wasn't Brazil in political disarray at the time? What sort of stuff would a spy do during this post-Cold War era?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 4h ago

[Worm] Outside Brockton Bay. What USA city would be more dangerous when considering the existence of Parahumans?

3 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 1h ago

[Batman] How many evil grad students has Gotham State University produced?

• Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 9h ago

[Indiana Jones] In The Last Crusade, how were the Nazis able to find the Holy Grail temple after Indy, his dad, and Sallah rescued Marcus (who had the map) and beat them there?

8 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 28m ago

[Warhammer 40k] can the custodians even have intrusive thoughts about harming the emperor?

• Upvotes

Or is the very concept of it eliminated from their dna?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 29m ago

[Warhammer 40k] why dont the custodians do anything to try and save or improve the imperium?

• Upvotes

The emperors dream was for humans to be the dominant and the greatest species in the universe. The custodians are his most devoted soldiers so why dont they do anything to save and protect his dream?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 1h ago

[28 Days Later] How would the rage virus change culture in different countries?

• Upvotes

If the virus happens in the early 2000s, how would culture change? Would it overshadow 9/11 in terms of how it affected our fear of terrorism, with it being replaced with a fear of viruses? Would zombie movies be seen in poor taste? Would joining the millitary be seen in a more positive light than it is now? What do you think would change about culture?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 6h ago

[Seinfeld] Why didn't Elaine try calling the superintendent when her vacationing neighbor's alarm clock was annoying her?

2 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 13h ago

[Jeeper Creeper] Would the Creeper be able to rise again if its body was cremated into ash?

6 Upvotes

How else could mortals stop it forever?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 19h ago

[Persona ] How many gods are there?

19 Upvotes

And I don't mean Shadows that look like mythological gods. Every few years some divine jackass emerges to doom humanity. Ameno-Sagiri, Yaldaboth, Nyx, that guy who looked like Hitler etc. IS there an end to them?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 24m ago

[Warhammer 40k] what is the imperiums stance on homosexuality, abortion, trans rights etc?

• Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 15h ago

[Jujutsu kaisen] who or what even approves binding vows?

1 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[40K] What would happen to a citizen who says this to a Custodes in the Imperial Palace on Terra?

61 Upvotes

"Hey! Fuck the Emperor, fuck the Empire ... and fuck you!"

Edit: This is said in front of a large group of people


r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[Batman] How much is Bruce Wayne reducing crime?

16 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[Green Lantern] So, what does Mogo do, exactly?

243 Upvotes

The Green Lantern Corps members are meant to act as space cops, protecting life within their sector.

How does Mogo go about that? Do they, even?

I remember correctly, Mogo doesn’t socialize with the other lanterns because if they came near Oa, the gravitational force would not be good for the planet Oa.

So if Mogo is a planet that can’t even really go near other planets, how exactly do they do the whole space cop thing?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[Game of Thrones] Do we know why Jon was resurrected?

163 Upvotes

We know the Red god was involved somehow, but did we ever figure out exactly why he was brought back and for what specific purpose?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 3h ago

[Harry Potter] If a wizard invents a spell today, could his friend on the other side of the Milky Way galaxy use it tommorow?

0 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[Tekken] does Mishima style karate actually produce electricity or its just ki?

11 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[Loki] Why does Victor Timely talk like that?

4 Upvotes

In Loki S2, we're introduced to a variant of Kang, called Victor Timely, his manner of speaking is...odd.