History Main / ClingyMacGuffin

* One of these features prominently in one of the issues of the Spanish comic ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'', titled "The Warlock": a magical note, enchanted to kill anyone who reads it. The titular characters subsequently try to remove it by the most varied means, chucking it into the bin, triturating it, burying it, tying it to a rock and throwing it to the sea, and ''hitting it with a full discharge of a flamethrower''. And yet the note manages to never be actually harmed due to some kind of karmic immunity that causes people around it to suffer instead.

* Rhodry's silver dagger in Katharine Kerr's {{Deverry}} series.

* In ''HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', it is implied that the Elder Wand can't simply be destroyed: neither [=McGonagall=] nor Harry think about it when the chance presents itself. [[spoiler:Though Harry does believe Dumbledore's plan will work -- if all goes well, at least.]] The Elder Wand can be passed on fairly easily, the wielder just needs to lose a fight. The curse, so to speak, comes from the fact that it was usually passed on by lethal force.

* A novel once read by this tropes (can't remember the name) involves the protagonist finding a bag on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere. Inside a bag he finds stacks of cash, an envelope, and a strange orb. He decides to borrow the money and return it later, which is why he keeps the bag but refuses to look at the envelope (if he sees the address, then he's a thief; if not, then he's simply borrowing it). He quickly realizes that the strange orb stays with him wherever he goes, even going floating through solid objects (leaving perfect holes with no burn marks) when there's an obstacle. Eventually, after spending all the money, he decides to look at the envelope to see if he can return the cursed orb. He's shocked when he reads the letter inside, which is a message from aliens, urging whoever finds the bag to keep the money and let the orb study the planet. Desperate, the man tries to jump out of his apartment window, only to be caught by some invisible force and brought back to the room. The orb then uses a laser-like beam to write a farewell message on the wall and disappears.

* In ''Literature/TheFabledLands'' if you earn the favor of Nagil, the god of death, you can be gifted with his White Sword. Besides its [[Infinity+1Sword staggering +8 combat bonus]], you'll have it forever. Even if you die and are brought back to life, you'll lose all the rest of your stuff, but not the sword.

* In ''Animation/SheZow'' the main character's TransformationTrinket is bound to his finger, though a storyboard for a future episode shows him temporarily being able to remove it.

* The Pistols in ''The Sixth Gun'' bond to whoever picks them up after their previous owner dies. Anyone else gets burned by green fire.

* In ''Film/TheMummyReturns'', Alex tries on a bracelet that turns out to be the key the bad guys are looking for. It's not detachable. This turns him into a [[MacGuffinGirl MacGuffin Boy]].

The most benign form is merely an EmpathicWeapon that's a little too empathic. It's not necessarily something you would ''want'' to get rid of. But it can sure make maintaining the {{Masquerade}} much harder. Not to mention if a villain is after it, you can't exactly comply with [[HostageForMcGuffin a demand to hand it over to save a friend.]] Not to mention the only chance they have of getting it is killing you.

The evil version is more like an [[ImplacableMan implacable stalker]]. From the moment it crosses your path, no matter what you do to it, look over your shoulder or around the corner -- it will always be there. When a character exhibits this clingy-ness, it's TheCatCameBack. This version often crosses over with the ArtifactOfDoom.

If a Clingy MacGuffin appears in an ongoing series, expect several episodes about the character's attempts to get rid of it so that he can lead a [[IJustWantToBeNormal normal life]]. He might even succeed a couple of times but circumstances will always manage to bring the two of them back together because otherwise, [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption there wouldn't be a show]]. The character might also come to accept or even enjoy their new life and actively seek to regain the Clingy MacGuffin.

* LouisaMayAlcott wrote a considerably more lighthearted and benign version of Andersen's ''The Red Shoes'' with ''[[http://www.online-literature.com/alcott/alcott-reader/4/ The Skipping Shoes]]''. A naughty girl named Kitty puts on a pair of new shoes that force her to behave, and that won't come off her feet when she tries to remove them. The shoes do have their upside, as when Kitty starts trying to be nice the shoes actively help her do it. They also give her the ability to talk to animals and even start teaching her how to dance. While their magic wears off at the end of the story, Kitty learns that GoodFeelsGood and continues to act as if she was still wearing the shoes.

* Another Tolkien example, from ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', is the Silmarils and the Necklace of the Dwarves (which was built around one of the Silmarils). Morgoth is unable to part with the Silmarils even though their holy light burns him, and later Beren is unable to throw away the Necklace when he is told to, instead giving it to Luthien to wear.

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian novel ''The Hour of the Dragon'', the Heart of Ahriman cannot be held by the sea.

* The quantum bands that come with the job of Protector of the ([[MarvelUniverse Marvel]]) Universe, once put on, don't come off again until the death of their wearer. As a result, ComicBook/{{Quasar}} gets killed once precisely because the BigBad of that story arc is after the bands and discovers that the bands can't even be removed from his wrists after ''cutting off his lower arms''. (He does eventually get better.)

* The bracelet-gun in ''Film/CowboysAndAliens''. Later subverted when it turns out [[spoiler:he just didn't know where the button was to release the catch]].

* In ''webcomic/FullFrontalNerdity'', Lewis has a cursed 20-sided die that is every gamer's nightmare; it always rolls a 1. The gamers give is a burial, [[http://ffn.nodwick.com/?p=125 but it returns]]. They bury it again, this time under a statue of the Virgin Mary, with a bunch of garlic. It returns again. The characters decide to de-curse it by mixing it with some dice that are extra lucky -- they rolled every die in their gaming store and bought the ones that came up as 20 three consecutive times. But after doing this, ''all'' the dice start rolling 1s. ("[[TheVirus It's like we tried to cure a zombie by locking it in a room with normal people!]]") Then the other cursed dice vanish, and the number 1 starts appearing world wide -- sports all end up with a score of 1, clocks stop at 1:11, etc. The gamers decide that the only way to break the curse is to make rolling a 1 ''good''. Fortunately, Nelson had the foresight to buy a lottery ticket with all 1s, and won $1,111. They use this money to bribe WizardsOfTheCoast to temporarily change the rules of DungeonsAndDragons so that 1s are good (version 1.1.1 -- their word processor was cursed too). Lewis rolls the die in the hopes of getting a 1 and lightning strikes, destroying it.

* In the short-lived series ''DeadLast'', the Talisman owned by the main characters that allowed them to see ghosts always returned to them, no matter how they tried to dispose of or destroy it. One character actually took advantage of this in different ways - for example, he pawns it repeatedly in the first episode and makes a sizable sum of money.

* The title character of ''LightNovel/{{Gokudo}}'' planned to abuse his magic sword in a similar manner as in ''DeadLast'', though his genie stops him before he can even try.

** And then there is the episode that parodied ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. When the Wicked Witch (played by Dr. Doofenschmirtz) demands that Candace hand over the magic red-rubber boots, she replies that she would, but they've grown on her. By that, she means that ''thorned vines have literally grown onto her legs and they won't come off.'' It's only after Phineas and Ferb give her a red-rubber shoehorn that she's finally able to remove them.

* The Alicorn Amulet from the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Magic Duel" is a variant of this trope: it can be removed, but only by the wearer. Since it grants immense magical powers to the wearer (Trixie in this episode), they will have no desire to remove it, but [[ArtifactOfDoom it also makes them evil]], so the main characters have plenty of reasons to want her to remove it. They succeed in making her remove it by tricking her with an even more powerful [[spoiler:(but fake)]] amulet.
* Kelly states the following: "It can't come off....[[WesternAnimation/SheZow According to [=SheZow=] legend, whoever put the ring on has to the responsibility of being [=SheZow=]"]]

* Ichigo's Hollow mask in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''. If removed from his person it will disintegrate into nothing, but it always reappears on him, appearing to block fatal blows early on. When his Hollow gains enough power to start interfering in Ichigo's fights, it becomes downright dangerous.

* In ''webcomic/FullFrontalNerdity'', Lewis has a cursed 20-sided die that is every gamer's nightmare; it always rolls a 1. The gamers give is a burial, but it returns. They bury it again, this time under a statue of the Virgin Mary, with a bunch of garlic. It returns again. The characters decide to de-curse it by mixing it with some dice that are extra lucky -- they rolled every die in their gaming store and bought the ones that came up as 20 three consecutive times. But after doing this, ''all'' the dice start rolling 1s. ("[[TheVirus It's like we tried to cure a zombie by locking it in a room with normal people!]]") Then the other cursed dice vanish, and the number 1 starts appearing world wide -- sports all end up with a score of 1, clocks stop at 1:11, etc. The gamers decide that the only way to break the curse is to make rolling a 1 ''good''. Fortunately, Nelson had the foresight to buy a lottery ticket with all 1s, and won $1,111. They use this money to bribe WizardsOfTheCoast to temporarily change the rules of DungeonsAndDragons so that 1s are good (version 1.1.1 -- their word processor was cursed too). Lewis rolls the die in the hopes of getting a 1 and lightning strikes, destroying it.

* In ''TheClueFinders: 4th Grade Adventures'', Joni gets an ancient Egyptian ring stuck on her finger, which doesn't come off until [[spoiler:the bad guy's goons use a magic spell to attract it]]. Said ring turns out to be [[spoiler:the key to releasing Set]].