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Cutting the Knot: Difference between revisions
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== Myth And Legend ==
* The [[Ur Example]] and [[Trope Namer]] was the mythical, impossibly complex [
== Anime and Manga ==
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* The first arc of [[The Losers]] has team tech Jensen having to copy the secure hard drives of Goliath, an oil company. When security finds out about the operation and exchange fire with his friends, he hacks the outer casing with an axe and pries the thing out whole.
* ''[[Watchmen]]'' features the Gordian Knot Lock Company (one of many companies owned by Ozymandias, who fancies himself a new Alexander the Great). Rorschach breaks the door down. [[Running Gag|Several times.]] {{spoiler|This is actually a clue as to Ozymandias' endgame: the U.S. and Soviet Union are on the verge of nuclear war, and have been at each other's throats for so long that it has become impossible to untangle them from their conflict. So he plans to cut the knot by introducing a third side for them to unite themselves against--an genetically engineered monster that he teleports to New York, killing half the city. What's frightening is that--at least initially--it ''works''.}}
** {{spoiler|A case of [[Enemy Mine]], if you think about it. Long ago, [[Nazi Germany]] united both sides as a target to destroy. Oz' simply invents a "knot-cutting sword" that they won't learn is nonexistent, at least until peaceful coexistence is already a reality. The only [[Epic Fail]] in reasoning here is the assumption that [[The Great Politics Mess
* In ''[[Incredible Hercules]]'' the title character is presented with a game of dark elven chess that he must solve to pass the Test of Mind. He responds by referencing [[Star Trek (Franchise)|The Kobayashi Maru]] (Not [[Unwinnable Training Simulation|The Kobayashi Maru]], but Kirk's handling of it), saying that when faced with an impossible situation one should change the rules of the game, and knocks over the table. Princess Alfyse is delighted with his resourcefulness, while her adviser starts to point out that it's ''not'' an impossible situation, he just had to move the rook...
** It wasn't Hercules's resourcefulness the princess was [[Distracted By the Sexy|admiring.]]
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** He has a similar reaction to cursed swords with the equivalent of [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything]].
* Whenever [[Batman]] battles The Riddler, he'll often beat his riddles using either this Trope or [[Take a Third Option]], essentially bypassing various [[Xanatos Gambit|Xanatos Gambits]] by winning in ways his enemy didn't expect.
* The section of ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]'' that shows [[Big Bad|Herr Starr's]] background and [[Start of Darkness|turn to villainy]] includes a bit where, as part of his training in [
== Film ==
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''Snake Eyes stabs the panel''<br />
'''Breaker:''' --or you could just stab it. }}
* ''[[MacGruber]]'' ([[The Movie]]) sees the eponymous hero confronted with a nuclear missile that's about to launch. He looks at the complicated wiring, panics, and declares he doesn't know how to defuse it. His allies express their disappointment and the villain basically says "[[I Knew It!]]"...to which Mac replies that he wasn't finished. He ''does'' know how to rip out the guidance computer, the plutonium, and a couple of other critical parts. The missile will still explode, but it won't go anywhere before it does and it won't be nuclear.
* The first ''[[Tomb Raider]]'' movie: Lara Croft finds the old clock containing the [[Plot Coupon]] (conveniently in her own basement), and her [[Smart Guy]] tries to disassemble it carefully and slowly, keeping track of which screw goes where. Lara will have none of it and smashes the clock to pieces with a hammer.
* In [[Werner Herzog (Creator)|Werner Herzog]]'s ''[[The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (Film)|The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser]]'' (a.k.a. ''[[Every Man for Himself And God Against All (Film)|Every Man for Himself And God Against All]]''), the title dolt confounds a doctor who asks him a version of the [[Knights and Knaves]] problem. Kaspar's response: "I would ask him if he is a tree-frog." [[It Makes Sense in Context]].
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* [[Truth in Television]] example: On ''Untold Stories of the ER'', a patient who desperately needs surgery can't be treated at the small clinic where he's diagnosed, but his insurance won't pay for the ambulance service to take him to a bigger hospital. Unable to cut through the red tape to arrange transport for their patient, the doctors hit upon a counterintuitive solution: they call 911, which the ambulance service is contractually obliged to respond to, even when the call comes ''from'' a hospital.
* On ''[[The Amazing Race]]'', Season 11, Danny became frustrated while doing a Roadblock that involved finding and collecting old newspapers from locals in a Malaysian neighborhood, so he just went to a store and bought a bunch of papers to complete the task (though this would cause them further problems later in the race).
** On Australia Season 1, When Nathan grew tired of [[Luck
== Machinima ==
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[[Category:Plots]]
[[Category:Cutting The Knot]]
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