History Main / AccidentallyBrokeTheMacGuffin

-->-- '''Josh Scorcher''', ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Bronies React:]] [[https://youtu.be/xZ8KQEXC46I?t=2009 Season 6 Premiere]]''

* [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]] on ''CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'' with the FLDSMDFR kill code. As they fly to stop it, Flint almost drops the flash drive with the code, saying "[[TemptingFate Can you imagine if I dropped this?]]" The window then breaks and the drive gets sucked out. After much difficulty, Flint gets his father to e-mail him the code to his cell phone. He plugs it to the FLDSMDFR, activates it, and... it turns out his dad sent the wrong file!

-->-- '''Josh Scorcher''', ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Bronies React:]] [[https://youtu.be/xZ8KQEXC46I?t=2008 Season 6 Premiere]]''

* In ''BedknobsAndBroomsticks'', the characters have retrieved the Star of Astaroth, imprinted with the words for the Substituary Locomotion. But as they arrive home, they find the star has disintegrated during the journey. [[ShaggyDogStory And it turned out to be unnecessary]], as one of the kid's storybooks had an illustration of the star, and more importantly, the words to the spell.

* In too many [[PointAndClickGame point-and-click games to name them all]], there is always a moment where you use an important item and it somehow breaks, forcing you to fix it before using it again.

* A brutal version plays out at the climax of ''Anime/PokemonHeroes''. After Ash and the others disabled the [[LostSuperweapon DMA]] and saved Latios from being used as its battery, the Soul Dew acting as a power source for it became corrupted; Oakley [[TooDumbToLive touched it out of curiosity which caused it to shatter]]. As the Soul Dew controls the waters of Alto Mare, its destruction resulted in a colossal tidal wave that would've wiped out everyone in the city. It was stopped by the combined psychic firepower from Latias and Latios using the last of his power, [[NotQuiteSavedEnough which wound up killing him in the process in order to create a new Soul Dew]].

* In ''Literature/TheDiamondOfDarkhold'', [[spoiler:Doon throws the diamond of Darkhold at a pack of wolves to save Lina. The diamond hits the rock that Lina is standing on and shatters into hundreds of pieces. Luckily, The diamond is only a sample. There are exactly one thousand diamonds in a hidden room in the cave. The diamonds are ancient technology that turns solar power into electricity]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TazMania'': Taz does this to he golf trophy at the end of "Return of the Road to Taz-Mania Strikes Back".

* Near the climax of ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'', Judy and Nick discover a train car full of vital evidence, and Judy decides to hijack the entire train car and drive it to the police station. In the ensuing ChaseScene, the car gets derailed and everything goes up in a [[EveryCarIsAPinto fiery explosion]]. Fortunately they manage to rescue a small briefcase of evidence.

* Played straight in ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' with the Matrix of leadership, but then inverted.

* A brutal version plays out at the climax of ''Anime/PokemonHeroes''. After Ash and others disabled the [[LostSuperweapon DMA]] and saved Latios from being used as its battery, the Soul Dew acting as a power source for it became corrupted and Oakley touched it out of curiosity which caused it to shatter. As the Soul Dew controls the waters of Alto Mare, its destruction resulted in a colossal tidal wave that would've wiped out everyone in the city. It was stopped by the combined psychic firepower from Latias and Latios using the last of his power, [[NotQuiteSavedEnough which wound up killing him in the process in order to create a new Soul Dew]].

Contrast DismantledMacGuffin, where the MacGuffin is not broken, but is meant to be put back together. Often leads to NoMacGuffinNoWinner. This only refers to objects, so ThePresidentsDaughter (obviously) does not count.

* A flip-flopping example from the ''RatchetAndClank'' series is the Dimensionator. In ''[[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 ''[[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]].

[[quoteright:380:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ab384f2978ee93122772d0de551adb5e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:380:You had one job Steve!]]

Contrast DismantledMacGuffin, where the MacGuffin is not broken, but is meant to be put back together. Often leads to NoMacGuffinNoWinner. This only refers to objects, so [[ThePresidentsDaughter The President's Daughter]] (obviously) does not count.


!!Examples:

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* After ''[[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]]'' dies the second time, the Scoobies find a one-of-a-kind sacred urn that will let them resurrect her. Demons interrupt their spell, and the urn gets dropped and broken, but it turns out [[SubvertedTrope the resurrection was completed moments before that.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}: Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty'', the Vault Hunter breaks the last part of Captain Blade's compass when breaking open the chest in which Herbert stored it ("[[{{Understatement}} Whoops]]"). Fortunately, Herbert knows how to fix it.

* In ''[[Literature/TheBooksOfEmber The Diamond Of Darkhold]]'', [[spoiler:Doon throws the diamond of Darkhold at a pack of wolves to save Lina. The diamond hits the rock that Lina is standing on and shatters into hundreds of pieces. Luckily, The diamond is only a sample. There are exactly one thousand diamonds in a hidden room in the cave. The diamonds are ancient technology that turns solar power into electricity]].

* 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In the pilot two-parter, the main characters recover the Elements of Harmony only for the villain to snatch them away and smash them to bits.

* In the fourth ''[[TheCityOfEmber Book of Ember]]'', ''The Diamond Of Darkhold'', Doon throws the diamond of Darkhold at a pack of wolves to save Lina. The diamond hits the rock that Lina is standing on and shatters into hundreds of pieces. Luckily, The diamond is only a sample. There are exactly one thousand diamonds in a hidden room in the cave. The diamonds are ancient technology that turns solar power into electricity.