MacGyvering: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"With what?" Spencer asks. "Don't tell me you know how to make a bomb with a stick of chewing gum." Wow, the first ever MacGyver joke was actually in the first ever episode of ''MacGyver''. That's actually kind of impressive.''|'''[[The Agony Booth]] [http://www.agonybooth.com/agonizer/MacGyver/Pilot.aspx?Page=4 recap]''' of the first ever episode of ''[[MacGyver]]''}}
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A character saves the day by making a gadget out of [[It May Help You on Your Quest|unlikely things]], such as creating a bomb out of chewing gum, dental floss, [[Duct Tape for Everything|duct tape]], and a match. If he isn't already using the dictionary to provide the fuse, the character would realize he's a bricoleur and what he's doing is bricolage.
The characters that do this may be [[Technical Pacifist
The [[Trope Namer]] and most famous practitioner of the art is Angus MacGyver, main character of [[MacGyver|the show that bore his surname]], who would create said gadgets at least [[Once an Episode]].
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* Notable mention goes to Shirou Amada from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]: MS 08th Team''. His team uses highly limited production RX-79(G)s made from leftover high spec parts of the namesake RX-78 Gundam, so spare parts for repairs are limited. Unfortunately enough, his mobile suit gets turned into a heap of junk. Rather than using the spare parts, which weren't enough anyway, he uses parts from normal military things such as jeeps, helicopters, and tanks to rebuild his RX-79(G) into the EZ-8, which performs * BETTER* than the RX-79(G). I personally call the EZ-8 the "MacGyver Gundam"
** At the end of ''Gundam 00'' season 1, {{spoiler|Setsuna F Seiei disappears after his Gundam Exia is all but destroyed...and he reappears 4 years later having Badass repaired the Gundam by himself with scraps replacing armour, a large cape covering a missing arm and a glowing red eye on the missing side of its face}} earning it the [[Fan Nickname]] {{spoiler|Termin-Exia or Exia-Two-face}}
*** This is somewhat subverted in that it took 4 years for Setsuna to show himself and in this case, it was less of a case of
* Yusei from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's]]'', in episode 88, disarmed a high tech battle royal collar with a nail.
* Shogetsu from [[Hatenkou Yuugi|Dazzle]] got a can of mackerel for lunch... but no can opener. So, with a few tools he got from the school's kitchen and science lab and the graphite from a pencil, he made a welding torch in the hopes that it would open the can. It did, but sadly, [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/hatenkou_yuugi/v10/c000.1/52.html it also burned the mackerel.] Oh, and Rahzel and Fay both had can openers.
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* Subverted in ''[[Marvel Zombies]] vs. [[Ultimate Fantastic Four]]'', where zombie Mr. Fantastic convinces the soldiers guarding the Ultimate Frightful Four's cell that he's built a teleporter out of stuff lying around the cell and they promptly disappear. Turns out Zombie Invisble Woman had just made them all invisible so that the guards would open the cell to investigate, whereupon they were eaten.
* [[Lex Luthor]], on the other hand, ''has'' been known to build a teleporter out out of stuff lying around his cell. During his appearance in the short-lived ''The Joker'' comic, he improvised a jetpack out of a couple of bottles of pop and some paint flakes.
** Spectacular jailbreaks based on his
* Mocked, inevitably, in [[Mad Magazine|Mad's]] spoof of [[MacGyver]]. MacGyver remarks the [[Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard|the room the bad guys have locked him in]] has nothing he can use to escape, to which the woman with him points out that the room is full of explosives. He complains about the indignity of having to actually use explosives as explosives instead of improvising.
* ''[[Tintin]]'' tends to resort to this after being kidnapped by the villain-of-the-week. Interestingly, while they're still ingenious a lot of his inventions are surprisingly plausible.
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== Theater ==
* This one's [[Older Than They Think]]: ''[[Hamlet]]'' features the title character forging a letter that will result in the execution of his [[Poisonous Friend
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* In [[Fallout: New Vegas]], when faced with a broken world item (fuse box, food processor...), you can either: go hunt for parts or use a high repair skill to fix it. Special mention for the food processor at Camp Mac Carran, which you can fix with a repair skill of 80 by using a paper clip, a swiss army knife and other stuff.
** Even that example is outdone by the Jury Rigging perk, which enables you to, among other things: repair a [[Power Fist]] with [[Joke Item|boxing gloves]], repair an [[Techno Babble|Inversal Proton Axe]] with a pool cue, and fix an [[Techno Babble|Atomic Tri-Calence Radii Accentuator]] with a pair of sunglasses.
* The Infocom game ''[[Leather Goddesses of Phobos]]'' revolves around
* "Gadgeteer" class in ''[[Wizardry]] 8'' is all about this trope.
* This is Doc Hawkins' trick in ''[[MDK]] 2''. "[[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|I've created]] ''[[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|toast]]''! Delicious!"
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== [[Real Life]] ==
* Brazil and Portugal are two nations whose whole philosophy is based on improvisation, and this is taught in schools. They even [http://www.cracked.com/article_17251_p2.html have a word for it]: ''desenrascanço''.
** That term is probably exclusive to Portugal. In Brazil, the improv way of life is usually called "Jeitinho Brasileiro", or "Brazilian (Little) Way", which is not limited to
* In French, MacGyverish translates to ''[http://www.ginandtacos.com/?p=1069 débrouillard]''. [http://www.lesdebrouillards.qc.ca/ And we've got a magazine teaching the virtues of ''la débrouillardise'' to little Quebecers everywhere.] Be afraid, be very afraid... [[Canada, Eh?|Or not, as the case may be.]]
** French call that ''système D''. A convenient way to do things without any annoying organisation.
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