Magic satchel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Magic satchel is a term often used in reference to computer role-playing games. It refers to the use of a character's inventory in the game, which can often contain more items than is physically possible for the character to carry (or are simply too large), without any visible means to hold or transport them.
A similar concept is hammerspace, the term used to describe the seemingly invisible place from which fictional characters, such as cartoon characters, pull out very large objects, such as mallets. The Norse god Thor's hammer Mjöllnir is described in the Prose Edda: "...when (Thor) wanted, it would be so small that it could be carried inside his tunic."
The "bag of holding" is a similar concept in the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. The clown car, in which many clowns clamber out of a tiny automobile, is another similar example in the circus.
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[edit] Origin
The concept of a magic satchel was alluded to many years before role-playing or computer and video games, for instance, in the medieval Welsh epic Y Mabinogi, Pwyll is given a magic satchel by the goddess Rhiannon; this satchel can never be filled except by a man putting his body into it. This trick is used to save Rhiannon from an unwanted Other World suitor.
Other magic satchel-like objects include Felix the Cat's magic bag of tricks, Mary Poppins' magical bag from which she can produce a large number of outsized objects, and, possibly, the bag in Samuel Beckett's play Happy Days (1960).[original research?]
[edit] Characteristics
Typically, in most games, a magic satchel can carry almost any number of different items (even vehicles in some extreme cases), but only up to 99 of a single kind of item, as any more of it would require too many digits to indicate. The general exception to this rule is money. A magic satchel can carry nearly any amount of money (although many computer games have either a limit of 255 units, 65,535 units, or 4,294,967,295 units, the maximum values for an unsigned integer represented by one byte, two bytes, or four bytes, respectively. Other limits commonly used allow only a number that is equal to 10x or 10x-1 in the case where an extra digit is presumed undesirable).
In addition, in many games, none of the objects in the satchel have any weight: One can carry an armory's worth of giant swords, several dozen old suits of armor, scores of healing items, a small fortune in the local currency, and a vehicle without any strain whatsoever.
This rule is not universal: a few games do enforce weight restrictions, and many do have some items that require a certain minimum level of strength, though this is typically the amount of strength required to wield the item rather than that required to carry it alone.
It should also be noted that in some RPGs, a character's inventory is limited, and the weight of a character's inventory affects how far they can run before needing to rest.
The theory behind a magic satchel is a simple one; the bag itself acts as a portal to an empty otherspace, in which items can be stored. Alternatively, the magic satchel can simply be an unexplainable mystery, merely included for gameplay purposes.
In some games, a magic satchel imposes a limit on the player, such as a limit on the amount of items or money they can carry, which can be later be upgraded through general progression or by completing tasks that are not on the path to completing the game, usually of increased difficulty.
[edit] Examples
[edit] Print media
Magic satchels are too numerous to mention in comics and manga. Their presence in novels is less common. Examples include:
- The Luggage in the Discworld series parodies the D&D convention.
- In the novel Changeling by Delia Sherman, the main character owns a magic bag, aptly named Satchel, which provides her with an unpredictable supply of prepared meals.
- The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling created several objects that are able to hold much more vast quantities than they normally would, including a Ford Anglia that can seat more than ten people; a tent with multiple floors; a chest that contains six compartments, each the size of the chest, plus an entire room; and a magic satchel in which Hermione Granger stores an entire library of books.
- In the fantasy novels Malazan Book of the Fallen, Mappo has a bag that is a self-contained "Warren" or magical realm in which many objects can be stored. It is hinted that he may have put some enemies in there to be rid of them.
- In Diane Duane's "Young Wizards" series, the main characters frequently store miscellanea in a "retrievable otherspace pocket." In "Wizard's Holiday" and "Wizards at War" they are given 'pup tents;' portable gateways to a pocket dimension which serves as a home-like environment when traveling to other planets.
- In Robert A. Heinlein's The Number of the Beast the protagonists' flying car Gay Deceiver has a storage "room" added on by Glinda the Good during a visit to Oz.
[edit] In films
- A running gag in the Marx Brothers films was for Harpo Marx's character to be carrying any given item at any given time, and to produce it at will. In the 1932 film Horse Feathers, for example, he produces a candle burning at both ends, as well as a cup of hot coffee for a passing bum, and in Duck Soup, he manages to pull out a functioning blowtorch from his pocket. This gag precedes the creation of the term hammerspace.
- In the 1934 Three Stooges film Men in Black, the Stooges go to the storage closet to acquire modes of transportation to get them to their patients. They are seen riding a three-man bicycle, a horse, and then individual go-carts out of the closet.
- In the 1964 film Mary Poppins, Mary has a magic bag that can store any number of items regardless of shape. This also appears in the stage musical of the same name.
- In the 1992 film Brain Donors, the character Jaques wears a magic-satchel-like raincoat that seems to contain anything.
- In the 1994 Jim Carrey film The Mask, the main character uses cartoon-like applications of hammerspace.
- In the 1995 film Mallrats, the character Silent Bob pulls items from his coat that should not fit, such as a fully inflated sex doll.
- In the three Bionicle movies (2003-2005), the Toa frequently pull objects and tools out of nowhere, usually from their backs. An example is when in Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui, Lhikan pulled his Fire Greatswords out of nowhere to form his skyboard. Another example is when Vakama put the Great Disks away behind his back, but when he turns around to join the other Toa, there's no sign of a place he could put all these objects (various Kanoka, the six Great Disks, his jetpack/disk launcher, Turaga Lhikan's mask, and the mask carving tool he used to make the Mask of Time) in. This is probably related to the Suva, a special shrine located normally in temples where Toa can teleport masks and other tools.
- The 2006 science-fiction film Ultraviolet has "flat-space dimensional compression technology" very much like a magic satchel.
[edit] On television
Many animation shows have magic satchel-like objects or characters. They are rare in live-action programs, and usually produced for comic effect. Examples of magic satchels in live-action shows include:
- Bill Smith from The Red Green Show can produce anything he needs from his trousers. This has included chainsaws, poles, pellet guns, ladders and a loaded crossbow.
- The character of Jerry on the 1990s sitcom Parker Lewis Can't Lose wears a trenchcoat from which he can get any needed item, always with the sound of a velcro attachment ripping free.
- In an episode of Brian O'Brian, Brian takes a lot of things inside a small briefcase, & even he himself goes inside it to bring out an inflated beach ball from the bottom of the case.
- In the 2006 episode of Doctor Who, The Runaway Bride, it was revealed that the Doctor's pockets, like the TARDIS, are bigger on the inside than on the outside.
- In the children's television show The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Rose Moseby has a medium sized purse from which she pulls out a baseball bat, a vacuum, a medium-sized anchor used as a key ring, a picture, and another purse.
- In a Benny Hill sketch set in the 18th century, a woman hides at least seven people under her big, puffy skirt to fool passing castle guards.
- In a children's television show called Popples, the characters pull various objects from the pouches on their backs, from rollerskates to a submarine.
- In a 1994 video for Coolio's song "Fantastic Voyage", Coolio's car trunk is opened at the beach and several dozen people step out one after the other with some parts of the sequence fast-forwarded to emphasize the sheer number of them.
- In the Nickelodeon show All That, one sketch features a character named "Baggin' Saggin' Barry" who can pull anything (even Abe Lincoln and a Helicopter) out of his extremely baggy pants.
- On Sesame Street, Oscar the Grouch's regularly-sized trash can houses elephants, a swimming pool and a tennis court. Although the movie The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland explores the notion that this may involve wormhole physics, since Oscar's trash can includes a doorway full of swirling colour which leads to Grouchland.
- Similarly, in the comic strip Peanuts, Snoopy's dog house contains many rooms and objects such as a pool table impossible to fit in the space as seen from the outside.
- In Batman, some of the devices Batman would deploy from his utility belt - most noticeably his bat-shield and the hundreds of feet of bat-rope are vastly larger than the compartments from which they are produced. Robin, meanwhile, has no compartments on his utility belt aside from small lipstick-sized cylinders, yet routinely withdraws palm-sized radios, grappling hooks, ropes, and myriad other tools.
- In Highlander: The Series and its spin-offs, most Immortals hide their swords under trenchcoats, though the swords should be noticeable beneath the coats due to their shapes and length.
- In the futuristic French Canadian sitcom "Dans une galaxie près de chez-vous", the character of Brad Spitfire has been shown to be able to pull virtually any weapon out of nowhere (usually right out of the screen). While he usually conjures large firearms, he has also been shown to pull out small guns, knives, and even a hockey stick.
- In the DVD commentary track of "Lessons", an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it is noted that, as Buffy's close-fitting garments have no place to conceal her mobile telephone, she simply reaches out of camera shot when she needs it.
- In an episode of Pokemon, one person pulls a tea table complete with tea and food out of his small knapsack.
[edit] In computer and video games
Many video games make extensive use of magic satchels or similar devices to keep the player's inventory. Items can be stored in containers, clothing, with companions, or nowhere in particular. Some games allow unlimited storage, others allow a limited inventory that may require players to get rid of some items to store others. Occasionally the unlimited inventory is used as the basis for a joke, for example when a particularly large or awkward item is placed in it. A large number of First Person Shooter games allow the player to carry an enormous amount of weaponry with no negative effects (such as reduced speed). RPGs are especially known to have players carrying around outrageous amounts of items and/or extremely large items, such as a house, bicycle, or even other party members(i.e. Final Fantasy). Probably one of the best examples of a specified character is Link from the Legend of Zelda series. In Twilight Princess, for example, he can carry three bags of bombs, a bow and arrow quiver, two clawshots, a pair of iron boots, a ball and chain, and much more in his back pocket. Appropriately, the last two items weigh him down considerably when they are being used, but not transported.
[edit] In Music
- In the music video "Under the Kilt" by Dr. MacDoo (Jonny Jakobsen), Jakobsen is seen producing various items from under his kilt that should otherwise be very noticeable in such a place, such as a pair of roller blades and a large brick.
