History Main / FindtheCure

* ''The SuperMarioBrosSuperShow'' had a twist: Snake-bitten Mario needed to eat a special antivenom pizza to be cured. They had the ingredients, but no way to cook it; Luigi had to find a ''fire flower''.

* The Dangi Corporation in the fan mod ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' Rubicon develop a cure for a virus they made. It was used in a scheme to take over the galaxy by [[spoiler: infecting food from various companies which was sent to various planets]]. They offered the cure in exchange for governmental control. At least, this is what happens if you stay on Pfhor Prime.

* The whole point of ''Literature/TheTwoPrincessesOfBamarre'', with the added twist that Addie's not sure if the cure's even real, [[spoiler: and when they do find it, it's too late for Meryl, who has to have an EmergencyTransformation]].\\
\\
Also played with, in that [[spoiler:while the cure that Addie ultimately found would have worked just fine, she also inadvertantly found the "real" cure, which everyone in the kingdom had been searching for -- by being a "coward who found courage", Addie caused rain to fall all over the land. The rain came from the home of the fairies and cured everyone of the disease.]]

** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3'' has Jill get infected with the T-Virus by Nemesis, which kicks off the quest for the cure by Carlos and he delivers the vaccine on time. [[spoiler: The vaccine would cause Jill's body to develop antibodies specifically against the T-Virus and would be an effective cure. Wesker in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' captures Jill and sues her antibodies against her by implanting a mind controlling device on her chest.]]

* One episode of {{Castle}} hit {{Castle}} with a poison that led to this, but justified: the villain didn't even know Castle existed, let alone that he'd been hit with the poison. The actual target of the poison ''was'' killed almost immediately by it, Castle just got a low dose of it accidentally (enough to kill him, just not as immediately) by being in the same car with the victim for a few minutes.

* On ''{{The X-Files}}'', Mulder desperately searching for a cure for Scully's cancer makes up the episodes of "Redux" and "Redux II." [[spoiler: He does.]]

* In the ''[[{{Hercules}} Hercules The Animated Series]]'' episode "Hercules and the Big Lie", Herc tells Icarus he has "Catastrophia" to get away from a geeky comic-scroll convention. The cure is in the backyard of a giant.

* In the [[{{Hercules}} HerculesTheAnimatedSeries]] episode "Hercules and the Big Lie", Herc tells Icarus he has "Catastrophia" to get away from a geeky comic-scroll convention. The cure is in the backyard of a giant.

* Used twice in ''LordOfTheRings'' with the Athelas plant (also known as Kingsfoil) which it seems only Aragorn knows how to use as more than a simple headache remedy. The first time, he uses it to help relieve the pain of Frodo's wound from a Morgul-knife and the second time to cure those who have been afflicted by "The Black Breath", spread by the Nazgul. Both times, the plant has to be sought out since there is none at hand when it's needed.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': During the Orange Islands arc, Ash and Tracey fell victim to a Vileplume's Stun Spore, and Misty had to go out to find a cure for the resulting paralysis. In the same episode, Jessie also fell victim to the same Vileplume's stun spore, leaving James and Meowth to find the same cure as Misty.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': During the Orange Islands arc, Ash and Tracey fell victim to a Vileplume's Stun Spore, and Misty had to go out to find a cure for the resulting paralysis.

One of the characters gets poisoned or sick, and there's a very rare [[MagicAntidote cure]] for them. Usually done by the villain, who will oppose the remaining heroes in getting the antidote, or else is [[{{Blackmail}} blackmailing]] the heroes into doing something for them. In which case the villain will usually be CarryingTheAntidote.

Not ''quite'' a DeathTrap on the part of the villain, but related in being needlessly complicated. If they were able to inject someone with a poison that's curable with a MacGuffin, why didn't they just use an instantly lethal means? A bullet instead of a dart, or a poison that would instantly kill someone? One answer suggests that in this one situation, they aren't [[GenreBlindness Genre Blind]]: a bullet would miss while a dart wouldn't. Another has the villain deliberately not killing the target; he or she wouldn't mind if the target dies, of course, but it's more important to have the heroes busy looking for or getting the cure while the Master Plan unfolds.

* The crew of the ''UchuuSenkanYamato'' had a year to reach a planet on the other side of the galaxy, get a device that would decontaminate an otherwise radiation-poisoned Earth, and get back to use it, before Earth became permanently uninhabitable.
* The Moxibustion Arc in the manga/anime ''RanmaOneHalf''. The wicked Happōsai hits Ranma with the Weakness Moxibustion, which makes the strongest man as weak as a toddler. They discover that Happōsai has the ancient scroll with the cure and spend the entire arc training to fight him to get the chart.

* Subverted to tragic effect in ''OnePiece''; Chopper risks his life to find a mushroom which he believed was a panacea that would cure his mentor's illness. However, he was mistaken and it was actually a highly poisonous mushroom... which his mentor proceeded to eat, grinning, knowing its nature.
* Guts's current quest in ''{{Berserk}}'' has him seeking Puck's home world of Elfhelm in hopes that the King can cure Casca's post-Eclipse insanity.

* Used in ''PetShopOfHorrors'', when Totetsu is shot and Leon must find Count D to learn what type of blood is needed for a transfusion. [[spoiler:All is put well in the end, when D's father secretly comes to see the animal and tells the doctors what sort of blood to use.]]
* In ''AxisPowersHetalia'', Spain gets sick because of his economic problems and his ex-pupil Romano searches for a cure, even recurring to TheMafia for help. When he returns, though, Spain's economy is better so he's healthy.

** And later, upon arriving on the mainland, the cast has to find medecine for [[HumanoidAlien Adam]].
* ''ZoidsChaoticCentury'':
** Happens in, after [[RobotBuddy Zeke]] is fatally injured in a battle against [[TheDragon Raven]], and [[IdiotHero Van]] must travel to a volcano to find a rare mineral called [[McGuffin Zoid Magnite]] to revive him.
** [[RecycledScript Done again and done worse]]: Genesis, where Ruuji must track down a rare flower to cure [[TheLoad Rei Mii]] after she comes down with an illness.
* In ''DetectiveConan'', Conan is trying to find the ''poison'' he was given, because if he finds a sample, the MadScientist living next door might be able to make a cure. A character who shows up later is also working on a cure, but unfortunately she lost most of her research and thus doesn't have a lot to go on.

* Used on {{Spider-Man}} by the Hobgoblin back in the late eighties or early nineties. The Hobgoblin [[ComplexityAddiction doesn't just shoot him]] [[JustifiedTrope because]] he wants Spidey to give him the Green Goblin's journals. Played with, in that the Hobgoblin doesn't have the antidote -- but Spidey gets it from the Kingpin in exchange for help dealing with Hobgoblin (who is a rogue element in Fisk's plans).

* Used in ''Comicbook/{{ElfQuest}} when Skywise has to find some Whistling Leaves (a diuretic) to help cure Cutter's fever. He only finds the leaves in the end due to a small breeze which causes the leaves to give out the whistling sound they were named for thus guiding him to the plant.

* ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' [[spoiler:The Hydra Humour early on in the game, however it is optional to perform the quest but by doing so it may affect the story a bit; The Inhabitants of the swamp where of the Alternate Dimension where they Hydras are not extinct attack a nearby island with the Heroes on it killing many of the inhabitants of that island.]]

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', as in a flashback you learn that a mother of a character had a disease which could only be cure by a dragon's tongue. However, since this would kill the dragon, the character decides not to do it.

!!Examples

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'': In "Mission: Imp-Possible", Nefir the imp poisons Aladdin with a sleeping drug in order to goad Genie into helping him find a valuable treasure, the Golden Silk of Panacea (which also happens to be the only cure for the drug).
** ''Aladdin'' the series also has Iago stealing fancy bath oils intended for the Sultan and thus consuming a poison intended to kill the Sultan that slowly turns him to stone, limb by limb. So of course the others try to get the cure, and Iago just [[FaceHeelTurn betrays]] them by giving the BigBad the lamp in exchange for the cure. Fortunately on the way there he has [[HeelFaceTurn a change of heart]], get captured, gets Aladdin and the rest captured, gets called a traitor and then gets saved by Genie who points out that Iago changed his mind at the last moment and is not to blame. [[WildCard Make up your mind, Iago!]]

** Subverted in "The Quickening." Bashir comes to the aid of a planet that was infected with a plague two centuries ago by the Jem'Hadar, expecting to swoop in with his genius and his gadgets and save the day with another miracle of 24th century Starfleet medicine. It doesn't work out that way.

** ''Aladdin'' the series also has Iago stealing fancy bath oils intended for the Sultan and thus consuming a poison intended to kill the Sultan that [[NightmareFuel slowly turns him to stone, limb by limb]]. So of course the others try to get the cure, and Iago just [[FaceHeelTurn betrays]] them by giving the BigBad the lamp in exchange for the cure. Fortunately on the way there he has [[HeelFaceTurn a change of heart]], get captured, gets Aladdin and the rest captured, gets called a traitor and then gets saved by Genie who points out that Iago changed his mind at the last moment and is not to blame. [[WildCard Make up your mind, Iago!]]