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Plot Coupon That Does Something: Difference between revisions
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Contrast the [[MacGuffin]], which serves no purpose besides driving the plot.
{{examples}}
* ''[[
** ''[[
*** The first half of the game revolves around Magicite, and Terra's abilities. First it's her natural magic ability, and then it's her Trance form, which turns her into her Esper self.
** ''[[
*** The Huge Materia as well, not only can you get a Summon from one, but later can be used to create Master Materias.
** ''[[
*** The Draw ability is also integrated: Selphie heals an unconscious Zell in a cutscene by pulling a cure spell out of his body.
** ''[[
** ''[[
*** ''[[
*** ''[[
** ''[[
*** ''[[
** ''[[
* Games from the Phantasy Star series are riddled with these. In P-Star 2, there is an item called a "Mogic Cap" which appears to be useless as it is found in a labyrinth which also contains a "Magic Cap", which in turn allows the player to communicate with the cats that are running around the labyrinth, but its uselessness for talking to the cats is a red herring, for the plot is stuck until the "Mogic Cap" is worn into a village on the Ice Planet Dezo, and serves as a translation device with the people. In P-Star 4 (also on the same ''[[Single Biome Planet|Ice Planet]]'' whose name has been lengthened to Dezolis now that it's not limited to a 4-character slot), the plot is completely frozen at a certain point until the party visits the second floor in one particular building in one particular town, where one of the characters in the party will suddenly fall ill and the plot can finally continue.
* Any game of the ''[[Tales
** In '' [[
*** Swordians also level up and have equipment, basically making them additional (albeit immobile) party members.
** Also, '' [[
* ''[[Castlevania]]: [[Aria of Sorrow]]'' and ''[[Dawn of Sorrow]]''. Soma's soul-collecting ability was worked into the plot in both games; it was actually central to several of ''Dawn'''s twists.
** Shanoa's glyph ability was also critical to the entire storyline of ''Order Of Ecclesia.'' In fact, the almighty Dominus glyph can indeed be used in gameplay any time you wish. [[Deadly Upgrade|You may regret it, though.]]
* In ''[[
* Neverwinter Nights 2 gives us the shards of the Sword of Gith, each of which gives you a different bonus while you possess them and get reforged into a really powerful sword, as well as opening the gate to the Fuge Plane, by the time Mask of the Betrayer rolls around.
** The original campaign also has powers granted by the Ritual of Purification, which was designed to destroy the [[Big Bad]]. They are actual battle abilities and can be used outside the [[Final Boss]] fight, though most aren't very useful due to their [[Crippling Overspecialization]].
* The side missions, the reputation system, and the [[Wide Open Sandbox]] in ''[[Freelancer]]'' are a direct result of Trent being a freelance pilot, going from boron trader to LSF operative, {{spoiler|to outlaw exiled in Bretonia, to freedom fighter in Kusari, to defender of the Sirius system with the Order}}.
* ''[[
** [[Spiritual Successor]] ''[[
* ''[[
* The magic system in ''[[Suikoden]]'' is based around rune fragments, the "true runes" that these fragments come from play an important part in the plots of each game in the series.
* The time suit that gives you your time-bending powers in ''Timeshift'' is also central to the plot, as a similar time suit was used by the [[Big Bad]] to alter history and create the dystopian future you spend the game fighting through.
* The plasmids in ''[[
** [[Geneforge]] [[Older Than They Think|did this earlier]], with the twist that the "canisters" you're using as [[Heart Container|Heart Containers]] and [[Upgrade Artifact|Upgrade Artifacts]] affect you as well as the NPCs you're fighting. [[Parabolic Power Curve|Too many]], and you start picking fights and talking like a psychopath. Way too many, and you may get a [[Downer Ending]]. And heaven help you if {{spoiler|you use the Geneforge}}...
* ''[[Makai Kingdom]]''. Writing wishes in The Sacred Tome is not only what the whole story's about (Zetta using it to recover his netherworld) but is also a central part of the game as it's used to create new facilities, random dungeons, reincarnate characters and unlock bonus content.
* In the ''[[Ar Tonelico]]'' RPG series, music is both a technological power source (that actually ''shattered'' the world once!) AND the source of the game's magic spells ("songs".) Further, the process used to learn Songs (a form of ''very creepy'' virtual reality psychotherapy) is also an important story element.
* The ARMs in the ''[[Wild Arms]]'' series inevitably have something to do with the story, and the fact that one of the main characters can use them (or use particular ones, or in a particular way).
** Another example from ''[[
* The ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' series always had [[Unusable Enemy Equipment]], [[Hand Wave|handwaved]] or justified a different way every game. In ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 4'' guns are "ID Locked", and this time, the plot is centered around a struggle for control of this ID system. The local arms dealer Drebin can help for a fee by... er... [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|"unlocking"]] guns for you.
* In ''[[
** Similarly, the hero has a pet mouse named Munchie, which spends the entire game in his pocket and can eat various types of cheese during combat to produce magical effects, as well as passing through conveniently placed mouseholes to retrieve small items a few times. After completing the game and starting the [[Bonus Dungeon]] content, Munchie is {{spoiler|revealed to be the hero's grandfather, a shapeshifting dragon, who finally explains the hero's mysterious backstory and indirectly the curse immunity mentioned above.}}
* The ''[[Resident Evil]]: Outbreak'' series integrates [[The Virus]] into the gameplay for the first time in the series. All of the players are infected, and the infection (represented by a %) ticks up to force the players to keep moving, and increases very fast if they are grievously wounded.
* In ''[[Paper Mario (
** In ''[[
* ''[[Astro Boy]]: Omega Factor'' integrates its stage select system into the plot, in the form of time travel. {{spoiler|The majority of the game is spent going from stage to stage, fixing all the disasters which happened in the first playthrough.}}
* ''[[
* At one point in the development of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]'', the medallions you get from the sages upon clearing each dungeon would have been equippable as items and had some effect.
** Speaking of [[The Legend of Zelda]], the [[Sword of Plot Advancement|Master Sword]] is generally required for plot purposes in most of the games. It just happens to deal more damage than the starting sword as well.
** The same goes for the Bow of Light in ''[[Spirit Tracks]]''; it's significant to the plot in that it's crucial for removing Malladus from Zelda's body and is the entire reason Link goes to the Sand Temple, but it's also a very useful ranged weapon.
* [[
* In ''[[Persona 3]]'', some skills are [[Cast From Hit Points]], requiring a set percentage determined by your maximum HP. You can't use them if you don't have enough, of course. {{spoiler|The [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower]] used against Nyx in the final battle costs ''all'' of the main character's hit points, as he's using his soul to seal her. He dies in the ending.}}
* In Flash-based MMO ''[[Gaia Online|zOMG!]]'', all of your powers come from special Rings. These Rings are the only things that can harm [[Everything Trying to Kill You|The Animated]]. They can be powered up by powerful emotions, can only be leveled in a special room, and can be made more powerful by [[Socialization Bonus|spending time with other people]]. ''ALL OF THIS BECOMES PLOT RELEVANT''.
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* Many quests in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' involve bringing items back to a questgiver NPC who asked you for them, whether to prove you killed the target or because it's something valuable to the NPC. Probably more than 90 percent of these are nothing but [[Plot Coupons]]; they can only be picked up if you have the quest and they can't be used for anything or even sold to a vendor. However, a few here and there can be [[Plot Coupon That Does Something|used as equippable items before returning them to the questgiver]], or even instead of returning them if you want the item more than whatever the quest reward is. They are generally below-average quality for their level because they aren't intended to be kept, but some have unique abilities or effects that fit the storyline of the quest and are hard to get anywhere else.
* For something even more fundamental, the [[Experience Points]] in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]] 2''.
* In an early cutscene in ''[[
** {{spoiler|Unless you have the ''Unfinished Business'' mod, in which case one of your rewards for completing Minsc's personal quest is being issued a "free magic use" license free of charge.}}
** Also, a sidequest has you {{spoiler|trying to defeat a [[Magnificent Bastard]] dragon that tricked you into slaying a group of knights under the pretense of the incident "tarnishing your honor." Sure enough, until the dragon is killed, if you're a Cleric you lose your special abilities, and if you're a Paladin you're considered Fallen.}}
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* The Soul Cube in ''[[Doom]] 3'' and the Artifact in ''[[Doom]] 3'' Resurrection of Evil are integral to the plot of both games. They are also ''very'' useful in gameplay. The Soul Cube [[One-Hit Kill|instantly kills]] any non-boss enemy and transfers all of its [[Life Energy]] to the player, healing him/her. The Artifact, once fully upgraded, can [[Bullet Time|slow down time]], [[Quad Damage|increase the power of your weapons]], and [[Invincibility Power-Up|make the player temporarily invulnerable]].
* The first ''[[Breath of Fire]]'' game features an item called the EKey, which you get early and is one of seven [[Cosmic Keystone|CosmicKeystones]] keeping the power of Tyr at bay. The EKey is also fairly unique in that you can use it repeatedly during battle to create an earthquake that [[Area of Effect|harms all enemies for 30 damage]], useful since your [[White Magician Girl]] has little offensive capabilities at that early point in the game.
* Some [[Plot Coupons]] in [[
* The badges in ''[[Pokémon]]''. In the first games, the badges actually gave a slight stat boost (don't ask us how) to your [[Mons]]. In later games, they have two uses; acting as "licenses" for HM field moves, and allowing the use of higher-level traded {mons}, which will otherwise disobey you.
** Also, in both [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
** The introduction of innate abilities in ''[[
* In ''[[
** Most of the [[Plot Coupons]] in any of the games are items that grant a Psynergy that has both uses in battle and for puzzle solving.
*** This grows incredibly silly as increasing numbers of these powers are just things you can already do, but applied to a different obstacle (the number of powers that use the cartoon glove signifying Generic Telekinesis is ridiculous in and of itself).
* With each of the Seven Needles that Lucas pulls in ''[[
* The path to [[ADOM]]'s ending involves collecting all the [[Artifact of Doom|Orbs Of Chaos]] and inserting them into a keyhole on the final boss's front door. You can actually ''equip'' these orbs for stat boosts. Although [[Evil Is Not a Toy|it's not a good idea]] to use their special powers.
* Played with in [[Planescape: Torment]]. The player is forced to seek out a small, bronze sphere to get information from a stubborn old man who collects cadavers. The item seems completely useless, and yet the servants of the opposition are seen immediately killing the old man. The player doesn't need to get the [[MacGuffin]] at all, not even to get the [[Golden Ending]], but if he goes back for it, it lets him talk the Big Bad to death and makes achieving the [[Golden Ending]] even easier. {{spoiler|The protagonist is immortal but forgets himself; he gave the [[MacGuffin]] to the old man in one of his past incarnations, claiming it granted immortality, so that the old man would keep it safe when the protagonist's corpse turned up. Sure enough, the current incarnation of the protagonist doesn't know that, and the sphere contains the protagonist's memories of his name. And 2M experience points.}} So it seems to be a [[Plot Coupon]] which anchors a [[Batman Gambit]], only to turn out to bestow [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower]].
* In [[The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim]], you are the [[I Am Who?|Dragonborn]]. What does this mean in terms of gameplay? You can [[Your Soul Is Mine|eat the souls of the dragons you slay]] and [[Instant Expert|instantly understand the words of the]] [[Make Me Wanna Shout|Thu'um]] you may have picked up on your travels; a process that takes normal people not given such divinely gifted powers years to achieve.
* In ''[[Prince of Persia]]: The Forgotten Sands'', the experience points system is explained as the Prince drawing the souls of defeated sand monsters into his amulet. This becomes a plot point when it is revealed that the Prince's brother also has the same ability, and is being driven mad by the amount of levelling he has done.
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