History Main / RubeGoldbergHatesYourGuts

This is a DeathTrope so expect spoilers. If it fails, you can expect someone to ask, "WhyDontYouJustShootHim" (and they often do).

-->--'''Garth Bernstein''', * ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls'', "#Powerless"

-->'''Garth Bernstein''', * ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls'', "#Powerless"

* Done occasionally in the Serge A. Storms novel series by Creator/TimDorsey.

* Done occasionally in the ''Literature/FloridaRoadkill'' series by Creator/TimDorsey. The earliest example: The victim is tied to an armchair, with the TV on showing the space shuttle being prepped for launch at Cape Canaveral (which was fairly close to the motel where the victim was tied up in). When the shuttle launched, the shock waves of the launch would cause the model space shuttle hanging from the ceiling to swing, striking the metal ring cut from a beer can. The contact between the metal ring and the metal toy would complete a circuit, which would start a small electric motor, which would wind in a cord, which would pull the trigger of a shotgun that was pointed at the victim.

* The climax of ''Film/BlownAway'' has MadBomber Ryan Gaerity and ex-IRA bomber turned bomb disposal officer Jimmy Dove fighting each other while the fuse to a vast amount of explosives in the hull of the derelict ship they're on goes into action around them as a literal RubeGoldbergDevice, started by Gaerity pouring a cup of water down the drain. It's made clear that Gaerity is more interested in revenge and his intricate bombs than the IRA cause he's supposed to be fighting for, hence the ComplexityAddiction.

** A more serious example involves almost all the major characters of the town of Quahog being invited to a dinner party being hosted by Creator/JamesWoods. Nearly every one present has a grudge against James himself, and therefore a possible motivation to want to kill him. The fat chick that Quagmire brings with him decides to sit in the wrong place at the wrong time, just as an egg timer pulls a string attached to a gun, which shoots her dead. It was intended for James, but he makes a last-minute decision to leave the room. Ultimately, it is [[*spoiler* anchorwoman Diane Simmons who kills Woods]], along with a few other minor characters who get in [[*spoiler* her]] way. The episode served largely to just remove those barely recurring characters from the show, including [[*spoiler* Diane herself]]. James Woods himself later returns with a ridiculously implausible explanation for how he is returned to life, in typical ''Family Guy'' style.

** A more serious example involved almost all the major characters of the town of Quahog being invited to a dinner party being hosted by Creator/JamesWoods. Almost every character had a grudge against James himself, and therefore a possible motivation to want to kill him. The fat chick that Quagmire brought with him decided to sit in the wrong place at the wrong time, just as an egg timer pulled a string attached to a gun, which shot her dead. It was intended for James, but he made a last-minute decision to leave the room. Ultimately, it was anchorwoman Diane Simmons who killed him, and a few other minor characters who got in her way. The episode served largely to just remove those barely recurring characters from the show, including Diane herself. James himself later returned with an explanation of how he was returned back to life in typical ''Family Guy'' style.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "The Tip of the Zoidberg" has the protagonists use one on the professor. Being a RubeGoldbergDevice, it was not quick, allowing time for the execution to be interrupted.

* Also considered in ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' when Kyon and Haruhi are pondering about the supposed murder in the island house.

* WebAnimation/FiftyWaysToDieInMinecraft: Subverted; death 15 in part 3 tries to do this, but the anvil is a block off from hitting the victim. Instead, he gets blown up by a Creeper seconds after.

* The ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' episode "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E16SixHours 6 Hours]]" has a special shotgun rigged up to a timer that will go off, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin within six hours]], killing the intended victim, a billionaire's daughter kidnapped by her [[BodyguardBetrayal traitorous bodyguard]]. It's also rigged up to a [[MurderDotCom webcam covering the gruesome crime]]. Fortunately, Walker finds them JustInTime and uses the traitor as a BulletproofHumanShield seconds before it goes off, protecting the girl and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard essentially killing him with his own murder weapon]].

* In the second episode of ''WebAnimation/CampCamp'', as David holds Camp Campbell’s mascot, Larry the Hamster, Max uses a marble to put a Rube Goldberg into effect, climaxing in a bowling ball setting off a catapult with a giant rock with the words “fuck the police” written on, hitting Larry and sending him across the lake into Spooky Island. After realizing he has hit Larry, Max says to David, “Aw man. That was supposed to kill you.”

** A more serious example involved almost all the major characters of the town of Quahog being invited to a dinner party being hosted by James Woods. Almost every character had a grudge against James himself, and therefore a possible motivation to want to kill him. The fat chick that Quagmire brought with him decided to sit in the wrong place at the wrong time, just as an egg timer pulled a string attached to a gun, which shot her dead. It was intended for James, but he made a last-minute decision to leave the room. Ultimately, it was anchorwoman Diane Simons who killed him, and a few other minor characters who got in her way. The episode served largely to just remove those barely recurring characters from the show, including Diane herself. James himself later returned with an explanation of how he was returned back to life in typical Family Guy style.

* Fred Jones of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'' lives and breathes this, most notably in episodes like "Hassle in the Castle." Unfortunately, he has a bad habit of accidentally capturing Scooby in his traps. His likelihood of capturing Scooby instead of the MonsterOfTheWeek is in direct proportion to how long it is till the end of the episode.

** In the episode "The Plateau", a mental patient with an exponentially high IQ due to a medical treatment is able to calculate nearly every possible future. To this end, he indirectly kills three people that were to take him back to reverse the treatment using a long chain of improbable events that he was able to predict.

* The featured freak-of-the-week on ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "The Goldberg Variation" has a luck-altering presence, resulting in this type of death for his enemies.

* Parodied in ''Film/AustinPowersInternationalManOfMystery'', where Dr. Evil leaves Austin and [[TheChick the current chick]] to die in an over-elaborate device, and Dr Evil's son suggests [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just shooting them]].

** In his first appearance, the Phantom Blot tries to kill MickeyMouse with exceptionally complicated homemade {{Death Trap}}s. When finally caught and unmasked, the Blot reveals that he does this because, despite his criminal endeavours, he doesn't have the guts to kill someone with his own hands.

* Subverted hilariously in the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "James II". The James clones build a complex-looking Rube Goldberg device in order to defeat the banana guards... but it turns out to be made from flimsy wood, and it breaks down around the banana guards while they just walk up to the Jameses.

* The ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' episode "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E16SixHours 6 Hours]]" has a special shotgun rigged up to a timer that will go off, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin within six hours]], killing the intended victim, a billionaire's daughter kidnapped by her [[BodyguardBetrayal traitorous bodyguard]]. Fortunately, Walker finds them JustInTime and uses the traitor as a BulletproofHumanShield seconds before it goes off, protecting the girl and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard essentially killing him with his own murder weapon]].

* The ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' episode "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E16SixHours 6 Hours]]" has a special shotgun rigged up to a timer that will go off, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin within six hours]], killing the intended victim, a billionaire's daughter kidnapped by her [[BodyguardBetrayal traitorous bodyguard]]. Fortunately, Walker finds them JustInTime and uses the traitor as a BulletproofHumanShield seconds before it goes off, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard protecting the girl and essentially killing him with his own murder weapon]].