Needle in a Stack of Needles: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' likes this trope:

** In ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone'' Harry has to find the right key from amongst a group of flying keys. {{spoiler|Ron deduces it should be similar to the handle on the door, and Harry spots it amongst the rest, noticing it has a broken wing, as it had been caught by Quirrell when ''he'' passed through.}}

** In the beginning of ''[[Harry Potter/Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|Deathly Hallows]]'', the Order has to transport Harry safely from the Dursleys' to the Burrow. They have six Order members take Polyjuice Potion, turning them into exact replicas of Harry, so that when the Death Eaters attack they'll be unable to tell which is the real Harry. {{spoiler|Although Harry gives it away anyway.}}

** Also in ''Deathly Hallows'', one of the Horcruxes is enchanted to create burning hot duplicates of itself every time it's touched. The duplicates themselves are similarly enchanted, so that touching the cup sets off a chain reaction that buries the thief alive in burning hot cups. ''Everything'' in the room is enchanted to burn and multiply if touched, which makes it all the worse.

** In ''[[Discworld/Witches Abroad|Witches Abroad]]'', both Granny and her sister are shown a whole bunch of reflections and are told they have to find the real one. {{spoiler|The sister runs among them. Granny says -- [[Simpleminded Wisdom|herself]].}}

** Proving this trope doesn't take a genius to come up with, the drugged-out troll Brick hides from the Watch and the troll Mafia by tagging along with a bunch of other gutter-trolls in ''[[Discworld/Thud|Thud!]]''.

** ''[[Discworld/The Science of Discworld|The Science of Discworld]]'' compares separating uranium-235 from uranium-238 to "looking for a needle in a haystack when the needle is made of straw".

* In [[Andre Norton]]'s ''[[Witch World]]'' novel ''The Year of the Unicorn'', Gillan is magically split in two. Then her other half is surrounded by duplicates, and she has to pick out the right one.

* ''The Twisted Thing'' by [[Mickey Spillane]]. The first elaborate murder plan having failed, the killer simply murders the victim with a hatchet, knowing his death will lead to a bunch of other crimes and revealed secrets among his [[Big Screwed-Up Family]] as they all scramble for his fortune.

* Subverted in ''[[Horton Hears a Who!]]'' when Vlad the vulture drops the clover that carries the speck of dust that contains the Whos into a huge clover field that Horton has to painstakingly sort through. Horton does just that and ''finds'' it.

* In ''[[Krabat|The Satanic Mill]]'', an evil sorcerer turns his apprentices into ravens, then challenges the heroine to determine which one's her beau. {{spoiler|She succeeds because she senses which one of the identical ravens is afraid for her safety.}}

* In Connie Willies' ''[[To Say Nothing of the Dog]]'', Tossie's diary, which the heroes have been trying to get their hands on for most of the book, is revealed to have been hidden {{spoiler|in the library, "in amongst all those other books where no one would notice it"}}.

== [[Video Games]] ==

* While most [[Hidden Object Game]] use the standard "needle in a haystack" approach, or blending it into the existing artwork, sometimes you have to find the correct object amongst a pile of similar objects.

** There are a few easy ways to tell it apart. The genuine amulet cannot be placed in a container, and a plastic imitation is revealed by the "Identify" spell. The standard way to tell it apart is to {{spoiler|name it the moment you get it}}.

* In ''[[Ultima Underworld]] II'' there's a room with a single Corp rune among a whole pile of Kal runes. All runes on the floor use the same sprite, but Kal and Corp are virtually indistinguishable anyway.

* In ''[[Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge]]'', Guybrush has to find a map hidden within a pile of maps.

* In the ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood|Assassin's Creed Brotherhood]]'' multiplayer game, there's an unlockable ability called "Morph", which, when used while stand in a crowd of people, will change all of them into duplicates of you.

* ''[[Resident Evil 0|"To hide a leaf, put it in a forest."]]

* At one point in ''[[Laura Bow]] : The Dagger of Amon Ra'', the stolen dagger is hidden in the museum gift shop in a row of replica daggers. You can tell it's the real one because it doesn't have "Made in Pittsburgh" engraved on it.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** There's also the gryphon egg, dropped amid a pile of chocolate-covered Easter eggs. Jake and Fu find it by ''taste-testing'' the eggs.

* In an episode of ''[[WITCH (animation)|WITCH]]'', Cedric threatens to kill Matt unless Will gives him the heart of Kandrakar. Will responds by using magic to create several duplicates that disappear when touched. After Cedrick lets Matt go, Will reveals that she still has the real one.

* In a 1980s ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' TV special, Daffy Duck and Sylvester wanted to hide a golden egg for safe keeping, so Daffy painted it white and hid it among some ordinary eggs. This wasn't such a bright idea.