Variable Man / Constants (Hombre Variable, “Variable Man”) is a framework of temporal cosmology that divides time travelers into two natures. Teófilo the Bactrian stated it to the Time Bandits during the Uchronic Paris cycle, to explain the order that governs time travel.
| Type | Concept |
| Spanish entry | Constantes |
The two natures
- Variables move freely through time, appear in different eras and change form and temporal nature. Teófilo called himself “the variable man”; Thomas Cole had earlier been given the same title.
- Constants act as fixed anchors in space-time. The Time Bandits are constants in Teófilo’s life: their presence stays invariable across the eras they visit.
Constant travelers produce deterministic effects wherever they go (the curse of the Uchronic Guards), since as anchors they alter the flow of time in predictable ways. A variable can adapt; a constant cannot. The framework rests on a principle: the past accommodates, and time corrects itself.