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Just Eat the MacGuffin: Difference between revisions
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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.JustEatTheMacGuffin 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.JustEatTheMacGuffin, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
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Well, there are [[Justified Trope|reasons]]. A common one is to make the MacGuffin completely indestructible, and thus a major inconvenience for anyone to try to effectively get rid of. It could regenerate. There could be so many of them that simply getting rid of them all in this way isn't an option. The MacGuffin might [[Cosmic Keystone|serve some essential purpose that would screw everything up if it was obliterated]]. And even then destroying the MacGuffin is floated as a possible last resort should it get in enemy hands. Or it could turn out to be [[MacGuffin Girl|a person]] and the only way to get rid of it is to kill her...AndThatWouldBeWrong.
At worst this trope can manifest itself at the last minute with no attempts at justification. It's a bit of a cheat, after all, to [[No MacGuffin, No Winner|resolve the plot with MacGuffin destruction]] when the MacGuffin could have been destroyed at just about any previous point in the story.
Another excuse is to [[Just Think of the Potential]]. Also compare [[We Win Because You Did Not]] and [[No MacGuffin, No Winner]].
For when the problem is a character rather than a MacGuffin, see [[Just Eat Gilligan]].
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If there are sound reasons given within the work for why the "single simple action" can't be taken, or won't work, ''it's not this trope. Don't add it as an example.'' If the characters do try the single simple solution and it doesn't work, it's ''also not this trope. Again, don't add it as an example.'' This trope is not just eating the [[MacGuffin]] in the literal sense; this trope is asking the question why not just destroy the damn [[MacGuffin]].
{{examples
== [[Anime and Manga]] ==
* Goku literally attempts to do this to one of the Dragon Balls in an effort to stop Syn Shenron from becoming Omega Shenron (again) in ''[[Dragon Ball GT (Anime)|Dragon Ball GT]]''. The results are: a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] watching him nearly choke to death in the attempt to swallow it, a W-T-F moment when the ball APPEARS IN HIS FOREHEAD for no discernible reason, and eventually failure when Syn Shenron manages to re-absorb it anyway.
* In the original ''[[Dragon Ball (Manga)|Dragon Ball]]'' manga and anime, [[Sealed Evil in A Can|Piccolo]] [[Card
* In ''[[Vision of Escaflowne]]'', the characters spend several episodes in a futile effort to keep the [[Big Bad]] from getting access to a sealed vault full of energy needed to implement his plans. Since the entire purpose of the nation guarding the vault is to ensure that nobody ever opens it, one has to wonder why they didn't just destroy the key centuries ago.
* In ''[[Kyou Kara Maou]]'', there are four keys needed to unlock the [[Sealed Evil in A Can]], which can bring about [[The End of the World As We Know It|the end of the worlds as we know them]]. Four easily destroyed keys. Of course, there are [[MacGuffin Girl|several]] good reasons not to...
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