A plot device or plot mechanismis any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward.
A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief. However, a well-crafted plot device, or one that emerges naturally from the setting or characters of the story, may be entirely accepted, or may even be unnoticed by the audience.
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterrestrial being called the Doctor, part of a humanoid species called Time Lords. The Doctor travels in the universe and in time using a time travelling spaceship called the TARDIS, which externally appears as a British police box. While travelling, the Doctor works to save lives and liberate oppressed peoples by combating foes. The Doctor usually travels with companions.
Beginning with William Hartnell, fourteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; the most recent being Ncuti Gatwa, who portrayed the Fifteenth Doctor from 2023 to 2025. The transition between actors is written into the plot of the series with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation, a plot device in which, when a Time Lord is fatally injured or weakened from old age, their cells regenerate and they are reincarnated into a different body with new mannerisms and behaviour but the same memories. This explains each actor's distinct portrayal, as they all represent different stages in the Doctor's life and, together, form a single lifetime with a single narrative. The time-travelling nature of the plot means that different incarnations of the Doctor occasionally meet. The Doctor can change ethnic appearance or gender; in 2017, Jodie Whittaker became the first woman cast in the lead role, and in 2023, Gatwa became the first black actor to lead the series. The different incarnations wear distinctive costumes; designers include Alexandra Tynan and Barbara Lane.
A parallel universe, also known as an alternate universe, world, or dimension, is a plot device in fiction which uses the notion of a hypothetical universe co-existing with another, typically to enable alternative narrative possibilities. The sum of all potential parallel universes that constitute reality is often called the "multiverse".
The device serves several narrative purposes. Among them, parallel universes have been used to allow stories with elements that would ordinarily violate the laws of nature, to enable characters to meet and interact with alternative versions of themselves or others from their home universe, thus enabling further character development, and to serve as a starting point for speculative fiction, particularly alternate history.
A soliloquy (/səˈlɪl.ə.kwi, soʊˈlɪl.oʊ-/, from Latin solus 'alone' and loqui 'to speak', pl. soliloquies) is a speech in drama in which a character speaks their thoughts aloud, typically while alone on stage. It serves to reveal the character's inner feelings, motivations, or plans directly to the audience, providing information that would not otherwise be accessible through dialogue with other characters. They are used as a narrative device to deepen character development, advance the plot, and offer the audience a clearer understanding of the psychological or emotional state of the speaker. Soliloquies are distinguished from monologues by their introspective nature and by the absence or disregard of other characters on the stage.
The soliloquy became especially prominent during the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, when playwrights used it as a means to explore complex human emotions and ethical dilemmas. William Shakespeare employed soliloquies extensively in his plays, using them to convey pivotal moments of decision, doubt, or revelation. Notable examples include Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" speech, which reflects on life and death, and Macbeth's contemplation of the consequences of regicide. Although the use of soliloquy declined in later theatrical traditions with the rise of realism, it has continued to appear in various forms across different genres, including film and television.
The Doctor, sometimes known as Doctor Who, is the protagonist of the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. An extraterrestrial Time Lord, the Doctor travels the universe in a time travelling spaceship called the TARDIS, often with companions. Since the show's inception in 1963, the character has been portrayed by fourteen lead actors. The transition to each succeeding actor is explained within the show's narrative through the plot device of regeneration, a biological function of Time Lords that allows a change of cellular structure and appearance with recovery following a mortal injury.
A number of other actors have played the character in stage and audio plays, as well as in various film and television productions. The Doctor has also been featured in films and a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips.
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or before a commercial break in a television programme. A cliffhanger is intended to incentivize the audience to return to see how the characters resolve the dilemma.
Some serials end with the caveat, "To Be Continued" or "The End?" In serial films and television series, the following episode sometimes begins with a recap sequence.
Identification refers to the automatic, subconscious psychological process in which an individual becomes like or closely associates themselves with another person by adopting one or more of the others' perceived personality traits, physical attributes, or some other aspect of their identity. The concept of identification was founded by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud in the 1920’s, and has since been expanded on and applied in psychology, social studies, media studies, and literary and film criticism. In literature, identification most often refers to the audience identifying with a fictional character, however it can also be employed as a narrative device whereby one character identifies with another character within the text itself.
Varying interpretations of Freud's original concept of identification are found in literary and film theory traditions, such as psychoanalytic literary criticism, archetypal literary criticism, and Lacanian film analysis, and in the works of prominent theorists and critics such as Northrop Frye, Laura Mulvey, and Christian Metz. Acclaimed filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock used specific camera and acting techniques in his films to incite audience identification with his characters in order to create suspense.
Magic in fiction is the endowment of characters or objects in works of fiction or fantasy with powers that do not naturally occur in the real world. Magic often serves as a plot device and has long been a component of fiction.
A wish is a hope or desire for something. In fiction, wishes can be used as plot devices. In folklore, opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come true" or "be granted" are themes that are sometimes used.
Suspended animation in fiction refers to the temporary cessation of life processes experienced by fictional characters, followed by their subsequent revival. This process is commonly employed as a plot device in science fiction narratives. It is frequently utilized to transport a character from the past to the future, a form of forward-only time travel, or to facilitate interstellar space travel, which necessitates an extended journey for months or years, referring to space travel in fiction. In addition to accomplishing the character's primary objective in the future, they often encounter the unfamiliarity of a new world, which may bear only faint resemblance to their previous surroundings. On occasion, a character is portrayed as possessing skills or abilities that have become lost to society during their period of suspension, enabling them to assume a heroic role in their new temporal setting.