This Page Will Self-Destruct: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* The anime ''[[Sonic X]]'' parodies this trope. Every time Eggman sends a video message to Sonic and company, he claims that something completely random and weird will happen after it's finished, which the robot messenger Bokkun then has to fulfill, such as "after this message, there will be karate". The one time he did the traditional "This message will self-destruct" thing, the message was accidentally delivered to him instead of Sonic.

* Used in ''[[Gorsky and Butch]]'' during a ''Mission: Impossible'' spoof - a pair of glasses showed Butch the details of the mission, then self-destructed before he could take them off.

* This happened in one issue of the [[Comic Book Adaptation]] of ''[[Woody Woodpecker]]'' when Woody was sent on a spy mission.

 

== Film ==

* In ''[[Spy Hard]]'', the hero left the self-destructing tape recorder in the helicopter he was flying in without thinking, and the pilot has a big [[Oh Crap]] moment when he hears the self-destruct message. It blows up the helicopter, killing the pilot- [[Mr. T]].

* Played around by Ernest in the beginning of ''[[Ernest P. Worrell|Ernest in the Army]]''.

 

== Literature ==

* In the ''[[Alex Rider]]'' books (once which parodies the practice; the item in question is a perfectly normal get-well-soon card).

* In the [[Tom Clancy]] novel ''[[The Cardinal Of The Kremlin]]'', the information from the titular spy would be typed up in the American Embassy on flash paper and inserted into a container which would ignite if anyone tried to mess with it. It was then transported by diplomatic pouch to the CIA headquarters where in the office of the Director it was disarmed. The Director would then photocopy it and get rid of the originals, since having flammable paper around is a hazard. It was mentioned that Directors felt this was overly dramatic... until the first time they saw how important the information was.

* In ''[[Foundation]]'' series it was mentioned that Seldon's safe with vague holographic congratulations will play timed recordings when it's set up, and breaking into it will most likely lead to self-destruction.

** Secret messages are commonly sent in "Personal Capsules" with biometric lock. Foundation also came to use medium that oxidizes upon exposure to air and completely disintegrates within a minute and half, later (in the second book) completely oxidizes to gas in a minute. Since the Empire wasn't as good at miniaturization at its best times, soon after the Foundation started its expansion the old version was not truly secure any more. In ''Foundation and Empire'' a merchant with modest (by Foundation standards) resources and some practice was confident he can burglarize an Imperial message capsule without signs of tampering, and mocked the Imperials who don't even use self-destructing medium.

* "Howlers" in the [[Harry Potter|Harry Potter universe]] are magical letters of (usually...) reprimand that scream at you loud enough to rattle cutlery and shake dust from a high-ceilinged room... and when they are done they burst into flames. If not opened, they also burst into flames, and the insults are mangled. Obviously they are very humiliating to get.

 

* [[Trope Namer|Of course]], this was the way every [[Mission Briefing]] for ''[[Mission: Impossible]]'' was done. Sometimes they tried to get creative on exactly how the item self destructed. This show is pretty much the [[Ur Example]] of this trope. That being said, [[Early Installment Weirdness|the early episodes didn't have this trope yet]]. The tape ended with "Please dispose of this message in the usual manner", upon which the addressee (Usually Briggs or Phelps) threw all the documents into a conveniently placed incinerator or other means to destroy the tape.

* Parodied on ''[[Ghostbusters]]'', where the title heroes got their secret messages from "Mr. Zero". The messages were hidden in improbable items (cream pies, a tuba, etc.) and would explode after the tape stopped.

* The season 2 finale of ''[[Castle]]'', ''A Deadly Game'', features a simulated spy game that involves a secret message delivered by self-destructing pen.

* ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' has two explosions in the "Penguin on the television" sketch, the first of which fits the trope: A radio presenter ends his speech with "And now, Radio Four will explode." Cue the receiver exploding.

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

* In a ''[[Peanuts]]'' strip, when Linus' mother was putting notes in his school lunch, one such note ended, "This note will self-destruct in five seconds," and promptly vanished.

 

* An old ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' spell "Magic Mouth". It records a short message and replays it later when pre-set conditions are met. And then vanishes.

* In one of the official adventures for ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'', the team leader is given self-destructing (specifically, self-dissolving) mission orders. There are just two small problems. One, the mission orders will begin to self-destruct well before the character has time to finish reading. Two, if the character doesn't drop the orders the ''instant'' the GM hints at this, he will self-destruct right along with them. Three, the self-destruct isn't instant, and anyone the character touches before succumbing may, at the whim of the GM, join them in dissolving away.

* Spoofed in ''[[City of Heroes]]'': In your first contact mission with Twinshot, she'll ask you to identify yourself through a security terminal. You can try to tell her that your name is [[The Princess Bride (film)|Inigo Montoya]], but then she'll berate you for [[Discredited Meme|using a decades-old joke]] and threaten to blow up the terminal. (She doesn't actually do it, of course.)

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* Spoofed on ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]''. "This recording will self-destruct... right now!", and then Rico appears out of nowhere and bashes the recorder with a baseball bat.

* Used on the [[Danger Mouse]] episodes "The World Of Machines," "The Duel," and "The Odd Ball Runaround."

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Espionage Tropes]]

[[Category:This Trope Name References Itself]]

[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]