History Main / PlotCoupon

Coined by Nick Lowe[[note]][[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Lowe_%28classicist%29 the writer]], not [[Music/NickLowe the musician]][[/note]] in a science fiction convention talk, later printed as an article ''[[http://news.ansible.co.uk/plotdev.html The Well-Tempered Plot Device]]'' in the fanzine ''Ansible'' and popularized by the [[http://www.sfwa.org/2009/06/turkey-city-lexicon-a-primer-for-sf-workshops/ Turkey City Lexicon.]] (The joke being that once you gather enough of them, you can send away for an ending.)

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'': The five Secret Stones which are needed to be collected upon clearing the respective dungeons in order to awaken the characters associated with them in order to stop Ganondorf. Much like with the Divine Beasts in the previous game, getting the four out of the five secret stones can be tackled in any order. However, [[spoiler:the fifth sage being Mineru requires much more of a throughout search and a bigger sidequest to even unlock her has the fifth and final sage (though she can be acquired even earlier with the right amount of setups). There are technically seven Secret Stones in total but one is held by the deceased [[BigGood Rauru]] until Zelda manages to take his and the other is held by Queen Sonia, Rauru's wife. However, she is killed by Ganondorf who promptly steals hers for himself.]]

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'': The five Secret Stones which are needed to be collected upon clearing the respective dungeons in order to awaken the characters associated with them in order to stop Ganondorf. Much like with the Divine Beasts in the previous game, getting the four out of the five secret stones can be tackled in any order. However, [[spoiler: the fifth sage being Mineru requires much more of a throughout search and a bigger sidequest to even unlock her has the fifth and final sage (though she can be acquired even earlier with the right amount of setups). There are technically seven Secret Stones in total but one is held by the deceased [[BigGood Rauru]] until Zelda manages to take his and the other is held by Queen Sonia, Rauru's wife. However, she is killed by Ganondorf who promptly steals hers for himself.]]

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' replaces the stars with Shine Sprites, which retain the purpose of collection and are justified in-game for being the source of solar energy in Isle Delfino. Instead of a specific number of them, what unlocks the last level is the collection of the Shine Sprites guarded by Shadow Mario, one per world, and in turn you must have collected the Shine Sprites of the preceding to unlock the Shadow Mario episodes themselves.

* ''Film/MenInBlack'' had the Galaxy "on Orion's Belt" [[spoiler:or rather, on the cat Orion's collar]].

* Literature/WhateleyUniverse: there is a 'fad' among mystics for something called a Great Quest, in which considerable magical power could be achieved by successfully divining the location of several otherwise normal objects which hold 'shards' of the quest objective, with each of these PlotCoupons leading to the next. As part of the Quest, the force of Magic itself creates increasingly dangerous challenges which stand in the questors way. In a twist, it seems that most of those who voluntarily initiate such quests are supervillains, with the heroes (or at least [[VillainProtagonist protagonists]]) acting as part of the challenge.

* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': there is a 'fad' among mystics for something called a Great Quest, in which considerable magical power could be achieved by successfully divining the location of several otherwise normal objects which hold 'shards' of the quest objective, with each of these Plot Coupons leads to the next. As part of the Quest, the force of Magic itself creates increasingly dangerous challenges which stand in the questor's way. In a twist, it seems that most of those who voluntarily initiate such quests are supervillains, with the heroes (or at least [[VillianProtagonist protagonists]]) acting as part of the challenge.

* ''Literature/Whateley Universe'': there is a 'fad' among mystics for something called a Great Quest, in which considerable magical power could be achieved by successfully divining the location of several otherwise normal objects which hold 'shards' of the quest objective, with each of these Plot Coupons leads to the next. As part of the Quest, the force of Magic itself creates increasingly dangerous challenges which stand in the questor's way. In a twist, it seems that most of those who voluntarily initiate such quests are supervillains, with the heroes (or at least [[VillianProtagonist protagonists]]) acting as part of the challenge.

** ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'': The Six Crystals, or rather the six statues to put the crystals in (you have the crystals at the outset). They dispel the barrier that protects the entrance of the Great Palace.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'': The five Secret Stones which are needed to be collected upon clearing the respective dungeons in order to awaken the characters associated with them in order to stop Ganondorf. Much like with the Divine Beasts in the previous game, getting the four out of the five secret stones can be tackled in any order. However, [[spoilers: the fifth sage being Mineru requires much more of a throughout search and a bigger sidequest to even unlock her has the fifth and final sage (though she can be acquired even earlier with the right amount of setups). There are technically seven Secret Stones in total but one is held by the deceased [[BigGood Rauru]] until Zelda manages to take his and the other is held by Queen Sonia, Rauru's wife. However, she is killed by Ganondorf who promptly steals hers for himself.]]