Magic satchel
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The 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. It was jokingly suggested that these characters were carrying around some kind of invisible mystical bag where they could keep everything without fear of encumbrance and could pull out any item at will.
It is suggested that while only certain people (usually female animé characters) can reach into "hammerspace" itself, and can only pull out a limited selection of items, a Magic Satchel provides access to "hammerspace" for anybody and can hold any item.
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[edit] Origin
The concept of a magic satchel was alluded to (although perhaps not conforming to this exact context) many years before its use in computer and video games, for instance as Felix the Cat's desired bag of tricks and in the Disney film Mary Poppins, where the title character has a bag from which she can seemingly produce a large number of objects, including ones that significantly outsize its dimensions: for example, in one scene, Mary Poppins can be seen pulling a large lamp, complete with a shoulder-length stand, from inside her bag. Even earlier, the bag in Samuel Beckett's play Happy Days (1960) is strongly implied (though not shown) to have magic satchel-like qualities.
Even further back, 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 Otherworld suitor.
- See also: Bag of holding
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. For example, a satchel may have 99 Healing Potions and 99 Antidotes, but may not carry 198 Potions, or even 100 Potions (a number of games have a limit of 255, as this equals 0xff in hexadecimal). The general exception to this rule is money. A magic satchel can carry nearly any amount of money (although again many games have either a limit of 65,535 units {0xffff} or 4,294,967,295 units {0xffffffff}). In addition, the objects in the satchel have no weight. One can carry an armory's worth of giant swords, several dozen old suits of armor, scores of healing items, a (not-so) small fortune in the local currency, and a vehicle or three, without any strain whatsoever.
[edit] Examples
[edit] In print media
- Doraemon, a robot cat from the eponymous manga.
- In the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game, a magic satchel actually exists as a physical object, and is called a Bag of Holding.
- The Luggage in the Discworld series parodies the D&D convention.
- In Ranma ½, the character Mousse can hide a large number of weapons mostly in the sleeves of his robes, but also in his feathers when in the shape of a duck.
- 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.
[edit] In films
- In the 1992 film Brain Donors, the character Jaques wears a magic-satchel like raincoat that seems to contain anything and everything, from a fire extinguisher to a folding office desk complete with typewriter and inflatable secretary. A messy situation occurs when Jaques is arrested and ordered to empty his pockets.
- In the film Mary Poppins, Mary has a magic bag that can store any number of items regardless of shape.
- In the live action Jim Carrey film The Mask, the main character uses cartoon like applications of Hammerspace.
[edit] On television
- The torso/storage compartment of the robot Bender from the Futurama animated cartoon television series acts as a magic satchel.
- In the popular, long-running ITV children's game show Knightmare, the role player wore an iconic satchel (or 'knapsack')
- Wakko Warner from Animaniacs carries a literal "gag bag", a seemingly ordinary canvas sack from which he can produce all manner of items.
- Bill Smith from The Red Green Show can produce anything he needs for a given adventure from his trousers.
- The character of Jerry on the 1990s sitcom Parker Lewis Can't Lose wears a trenchcoat from which he can instantly extract any needed item, always with the accompanying sound of a velcro attachment ripping free.
- In the short-lived 1960s cartoon series Batfink, the hero's hulking Asian sidekick, Karate, can produce various objects from the capacious sleeves of his gi.
- Nanny, in the British show Count Duckula, wears a sling on her right arm, and is able to produce virtually any item from her sling
- The character Coco in Cartoon Network's Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends acts as a moving, breathing magic satchel, by laying giant plastic eggs which can contain almost anything.
- In the 2005 remake of Doctor Who, it was revealed that the Doctor's pockets, like the TARDIS, are bigger on the inside than on the outside.[citation needed]
[edit] In computer and video games
Om addition to CRPG's, many other games have magic satchel-like inventories.
- Guybrush Threepwood, the main character of the Monkey Island series, stores items he picks up in his pants.
- In The Sims 2: Nightlife, each Sim’s “inventory” (represented in the interface as a backpack) can carry all household objects, including sofas, double beds, 42-inch TV sets, and other things much larger and heavier than the Sim him/herself. Even then, it is invisible and does not encumber the Sim in any way.
- The character Link from the Legend of Zelda series also displays use of a magic satchel. The animated Legend of Zelda series explained his storage method by giving him a literal magic pouch that stored many large items otherwise impossible to carry in a bag of that size (they would shrink to a tiny size upon being placed in the bag, and expand to normal upon being removed).
- Doom features a backpack item that acts as a magic satchel, as it enables the player to carry twice as much ammunition as before.
- Resident Evil 4 offers an alternative: the main character Leon S. Kennedy carries a briefcase that offers some explanation to where he stores his weapons/healing items. The briefcase further limits the player by utilizing a grid system that limits the amount of objects Leon can carry. However, the briefcase still has hammerspace qualities as Leon is never seen possessing it on him despite being able to access it at will, and still being able to store unrealistic items such as lengthy RPGs.
- Simon from the Simon the Sorcerer games was able to use his hat as a magic satchel, from it, he can store or retrieve any item (regardless of size, however, the item entering the hat does not shrink). He is seen pulling a variety of items from his hat, ranging from tubas to fire escape ladders.
- While not technically a satchel, the "thing your aunt gave you which you don't know what it is," from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy computer game can hold a near-infinite amount of items as well as follow you around the game.
