Hydra Problem: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|Kudos (Greek!) to Hercules for thinking outside the ampitheatre on this one [...] but it seems to me there was another way out. If he had just kept chopping, eventually the creature would have had a hundred thousand heads, making it look something like venomous reptilian broccoli. Then it would have tipped over and been no threat to anyone. People could come up and laugh at it, it would have been a great tourist attraction.|[[Lore Sjoberg|Lore Sjöberg]], ''The Book of Ratings''}}
This is where when you defeat an enemy, one or two more show up in its place, and so on until you perform some kind of specific attack to kill it for good. Named for the Hydra from Greek mythology, which had nine heads that grew two more heads whenever one was chopped off; the only way to destroy it was to cut off the heads and cauterize the stumps with fire before the head was able to grow back and multiply. Compare to [[Asteroids Monster
{{examples
* [[Trope Namer]] comes from the Lernaean Hydra from [[Classical Mythology]]. Whenever a head was lopped off the beast, two more grew in its place. To defeat it, the hero Heracles had his friend Iolaus burn the stumps before the head grew back until he smashes off all the beasts heads with his club.
** The Hydra also had one immortal head, which they had to bury under a rock.
*** Parody hero Samurai Cat fought Cerebus (Hades' dog, not the aardvark), who it turned out had the same power. Samurai Cat just kept chopping off heads until Cerebus had so many, 1) they were all too small to bite effectively and 2) they weighed so much Cerebus couldn't walk around anymore.
* On ''[[
* In the first ''[[Hellboy (
* ''[[Dungeons
* In the [[Hindu Mythology]] Durga once found herself facing an enemy whose power was a regeneration-based [[
** More Hindu mythology: The legend behind the Thuggee cult was about regenerating demons too, therefore demanding strangulation (a bloodless killing method).
* There is also the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment from ''[[Fantasia]]''. When Mickey chops the broom into pieces, each splinter becomes a new broom. Only the Wizard's magic can undo all the damage.
* Madrox the Multiple Man of the ''[[X
* ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' solved the problem of an actual hydra, by repeatedly decapitating it until it fainted - its heart couldn't maintain the proper blood pressure in all the extra necks.
** Then an enterprising goblin starts using it [[Rule of Funny|as an infinite supply of meat for a barbecue restaurant]].
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** While appearing in the movie of ''Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief'' in the books the Hydra appears instead in ''Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters''. Here, Clarisse kills it by blowing it up using a gunboat.
* Undead enemies in ''[[Wandering Hamster]]'' respawn every time they are killed, unless you use the glimmer item which kills them for good.
* The Disney adaptation of ''[[Hercules (
* This concept is the origin behind the name of the terrorist organization HYDRA in [[Marvel Comics]], though in practice it's essentially a boast about their never ending [[Redshirt Army]]. Their motto is "Cut off one head, two more take its place". In ''[[Captain America:
* ''[[He
** Another episode had Triclops unleash an army of skeletal warriors that respawn into two every time they get smashed. They are defeated when the heroes smash the device Triclops was controlling them with, making them all crumble to dust.
* Religion example: [[The Bible|Jesus; Matthew 12:43-45]] once said that if you defeat a demon/unclean spirit with your own power that isn't God's, it would return with seven more of its kind.
* The [[Superman]] villain Riot has a similar power to Multiple Man. Defeating him requires indirect methods like cutting off his air supply or catching him in a net.
* In ''[[Animorphs
* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' episode "Beat Your Greens" had [[Plant Aliens]] that regenerate. They are defeated when everyone eats them.
* The [[Monster Society Of Evil]] has a literal Hydra created by Mister Mind, which when it loses a head grows it back with the head of another animal. [[Captain Marvel]] causes its heads to fight over meat, killing it.
* [http://www.roguetemple.com/z/hydra.php Hydra Slayer] is a quirky little [[Roguelike]] wholly concerned with how to resolve the Hydra Problem on a case-by-case basis. Your success is determined by being able to tell which weapons/powers will remove heads, which will add heads, and how to combine these two factors to kill each individual hydra in the shortest possible time.
* [[Real Life]] example: Some weeds ensure their survival by sending out long horizontal roots that can sprout new stalks if the original stalk is destroyed. Pull up the first stalk, and you'll find a cluster of new weeds sprouting all around the hole a few days later.
* The ''[[
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