A type of fandom-based Author's Saving Throw, this is the specific rationalization that a character suffering from The Worf Effect or a Curb Stomp Battle did so only because something (artificially) undermined their performance. The insinuation, of course, is that it probably wouldn't have happened this way under "normal" circumstances. A type of Drama-Preserving Handicap. Compare Actually a Doombot. Examples of Worf Had the Flu include: