A deus ex machina is when a person or object appears out of nowhere with the sole purpose of moving a plot along. It was parodied in the film Dodgeball, when a treasure chest full of money is wheeled onto the dodgeball court. Across its side reads Deus Ex Machina. Lulz.
It's generally accepted that use of a deus ex machina is evidence of poor storytelling technique. It literally means "God from the machine", referring to the practice of lowering actors playing gods and goddesses to the stage with a crane. If a playwright was either a) not very good at writing plays or b) pressed for time, and his plot got horribly convoluted or irresolvable, he could simply introduce a god to fix everything. Isn't it funny how, even in the days of ancient Greek theatre, people still expected God to come out of nowhere and fix all thier problems?
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