History Main / AccidentallyBrokeTheMacGuffin

* A flip-flopping example from the ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' series is the Dimensionator. In ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction Tools of Destruction]]'', it is broken via unknown means after the final battle, preventing Ratchet from visiting the Lombaxes. Effort is put towards fixing it in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankIntoTheNexus Into the Nexus]]'', and yet again it winds up broken after the BigBad is put away with it. Ratchet can only laugh hysterically at his bad luck, however before the game ends Clank snatches it, [[SequelHook implying that he intends to fix it once more]].

* The ultimate fate of the titular Idol in ''[[VideoGame/TheCaseOfTheGoldenIdol]]'': [[spoiler:a drunken [[UpperClassTwit Peter Battley]] shoots Lazarus Herst with a cannon over an unrelated dispute, killing him and breaking the idol]].

* The Trope Picture comes from ''ComicBook/TheAvengersJonathanHickman''. In an attempt to stop an Incursion from happening, the Illuminati and Captain America use the Infinity Gems to stop it. It works, but the Gems have a shit fit, shattering all but the Time Gem, which just disappears.[[note]]Where's the Soul Gem? They didn't have them all to begin with.[[/note]]

* In the ''FanFic/TheFifthAct'' Cloud accidentally breaks the extra vials carrying the [[{{Panacea}} spring water]] when he fought the Grand Horn with Zack, losing Genesis's chance to cure Angeal's degeneration quickly.

* A humorous example; in ''WesternAnimation/IceAge1'', the gang spends a whole scene trying to get a watermelon from a "cult" of dodos so they can feed it to the baby they're protecting. After a hilarious slow-motion sequence, Sid the Sloth finally manages to retrieve it from the onslaught of birds......only to spike it into the ground like a football, shattering it. [[spoiler: The baby simply eats the chunks off the ground.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', Miles is given the override key by Peter Parker after the former gets bitten by an Alchemax spider to shut down [[BigBad Kingpin's]] Super-Collider. Unfortunately, he breaks it, which forces Peter's alternate universe counterpart, Peter B. Parker and Miles to create a new one by breaking into Alchemax.

-->'''Fred Haise:''' Shit, I tore it. \\
'''Jack Swigert:''' Shit. \\
'''Fred Haise:''' Houston, what do we do if we rip the bag? Can we tape it? \\
'''Andy (CAPCOM - WHITE):''' They just tore the bag. \\
'''Technician:''' ''[{{facepalm}}ing]'' Oh, no.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Stanley}}'': In the special "Stanley's Great Big Storytime Adventure", Harry and Elsie argue over who should come into the book with Stanley to find Lionel; they wrestle over the GreatBigBookOfEverything until it breaks apart, causing Stanley to become trapped inside and all the animals to be messed up, so they recruit Stanley's friends to fix it.

[[caption-width-right:350:You had one job Steve![[note]]At least he didn't break the Time Gem, but it disappeared.[[/note]]]]

** In "The Crystalling", [[GooGooGodLike Baby Flurry Heart]] starts to cry and unleashes [[MakeMeWannaShout a loud wail]] powerful enough to shatter the Crystal Heart, which protects the Crystal Empire from the surrounding harsh weather.

* A humorous example; in ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'', the gang spends a whole scene trying to get a watermelon from a "cult" of dodos so they can feed it to the baby they're protecting. After a hilarious slow-motion sequence, Sid the Sloth finally manages to retrieve it from the onslaught of birds......only to spike it into the ground like a football, shattering it. [[spoiler: The baby simply eats the chunks off the ground.]]

* The Trope Picture comes from ''ComicBook/JonathanHickmansAvengers''. In an attempt to stop an Incursion from happening, the Illuminati and Captain America use the Infinity Gems to stop it. It works, but the Gems have a shit fit, shattering all but the Time Gem, which just disappears.[[note]]Where's the Soul Gem? They didn't have them all to begin with.[[/note]]

* In VideoGame/StarControl 2 you meet a species called the Utwig who all suffer from horrible depression due to the fact that they broke the Ultron. What's the Ultron? Well they claim it's an artifact that generates "metawave gyrations" that interact with organic brains to commune with the user and can do anything from allow them to view the past and future to resurrect the dead. But the Utwig bought the thing from [[HonestJohnsDealership the Druuge]], so it's almost certainly just a piece of junk that does bugger all. But having it made the Utwig happy, so when it was accidentally dropped during a ritual dance the whole civilization took it pretty badly, to the point of considering planetary suicide. Repairing the Ultron is necessary to beating the game, as the Utwig will give you their [[EarthShatteringKaboom planet-destroying bomb]] as a reward, which you need. And then during the end credits (which may be non-canon as they break the fourth wall), the Ultron gets dropped again.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Comicbook/LifeandtimesofScroogeMcDuck'': In "Letter Home" Scrooge and his family find an old family treasure along with Holy Grail. Donald breaks it and ebnds up freaking out over being cursed for it much to his nephews amusement.

** In ''Film/ElmoSavesChristmas'', after Elmo sees how horrible Sesame Street has become after wishing it were ChristmasEveryDay with the magic snowglobe, he attempts to use it to undo the wish, but he shakes it so hard that it slips out of his hands and breaks on the ground, so now it's Christmas forever. Fortunately, Elmo remembers Lightning's TimeTravel powers and discovers he can go forward and backward in time, so Lightning takes Elmo all the way back to the Christmas Eve the year before when he saved Santa from the chimney so he doesn't get the snowglobe.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Subverted in the episode "Waiting". After spending a long time waiting for the delivery of his Kelpo toy, [=SpongeBob=] finally receives it near the end; when Patrick touches it, its limbs suddenly spring out, and [=SpongeBob=] shouts at him for breaking the toy he waited so long for. Then Squidward comes out, miraculously undoes the springing, and tells the two the toy is ''supposed'' to spring like that, and [=SpongeBob=] is relieved.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Subverted in the episode "Waiting". After spending a long time waiting for the delivery of his Kelpo toy, [=SpongeBob=] finally receives it near the end; when Patrick touches it, it's limbs suddenly spring out, and [=SpongeBob=] shouts at him for breaking the toy he waited so long for. Then Squidward comes out, miraculously undoes the springing, and tells the two the toy is ''supposed'' to spring like that, and [=SpongeBob=] is relieved.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', Miles is given the override key by Peter Parker after the former gets bitten by an Alchemax spider to shut down [[ComicBook/Kingpin King]][[BigBad pin's]] Super-Collider. Unfortunately, he breaks it, which forces Peter's alternate universe counterpart Peter B. Parker and Miles to create a new one by breaking into Alchemax.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', Miles is given the override key by Peter Parker after the former gets bitten by an Alchemax spider to shut down [[ComicBook/Kingping King]][[BigBad pin's]] Super-Collider. Unfortunately, he breaks it, which forces Peter's alternate universe counterpart Peter B. Parker and Miles to create a new one by breaking into Alchemax.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', Miles is given the override key by Peter Parker after the former gets bitten by an Alchemax spider to shut down Kingpin's particle collider. Unfortunately, he breaks it, which forces Peter's alternate universe counterpart Peter B. Parker and Miles to create a new one by breaking into Alchemax Laboratories.