History Main / DangerousDeviceDisposalDebacle

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseTheMovie'': Most of the plot is based on a weapon called a rejuvenator that gave Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl IdentityAmnesia. Steven actually gets it away from the [[BigBad Spinel]] very quickly, and after learning what it is, tries to store it in [[PocketDimension Lion's mane]], where no one else can reach. However, the rejuvenator also severely weakened his powers to the point he can't do that, so Steven just sticks it in his jacket. [[spoiler:This ultimately backfires, but not because it gets used against Steven or his allies again. Steven convinces Spinel to undo her actions, but then she sees he still has the rejuvenerator on him and [[RedemptionFailure assumes he was going to use it again]] ''on her''.]]

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseTheMovie'': Most of the plot is based on a weapon called a rejuvenator that gave Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl IdentityAmnesia. Steven actually gets it away from the [[BigBad Spinel]] very quickly, and after learning what it is, tries to store it in [[PocketDimension Lion's mane]], where no one else can reach. However, the rejuvenator also severely weakened his powers to the point he can't do that, so Steven just sticks it in his jacket. [[spoiler:This ultimately backfires, not because it gets used against Steven or his allies again. Steven convinces Spinel to undo her actions, but then she sees he still has the rejuvenerator on him and [[RedemptionFailure assumes he was going to use it again]] ''on her''.]]

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutron'' had Jimmy attempt to create a device to bring his friend Carl's dead goldfish back to life, but it didn't appear to work at first. Jimmy resolves to just dump the invention in the failed experiments file, but Carl asks if he can keep it as a memento of his dead fish. Jimmy lets him, seeing as that it doesn't work anyway. However, the fish is shown coming back to life after they leave. Later on Carl offers to [[MundaneUtility use it to generate a spark to relight a torch]] while exploring a pitch-black tomb in Egypt, only for the mummies buried there to come back to life.

* In ''FanFic/TheWeaverOption'' the Book of Unblemished Ecstasy is a relic created by a proto-Slaaenshi cult before the fall of the Aeldari Empire. Lelith destroyed the cult but found the Book impossible to permanently destroy. In the past she has shredded the thing and thrown its remains into stars only for it to reappear intact elsewhere and start more trouble.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "X", it's discovered that an unknown individual had stolen the original Red X costume from Robin and has been using it for thieving. Discussed when Beast Boy suggests that he must be kicking himself that he never got rid of the suit before it was stolen, and Justified as Robin explains that the suit couldn't be destroyed; its Zynothium power source made it too dangerous to be disposed of safely.

* In the backstory of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', the Justice League first cane together to fight the Appellaxians, energy beings who fought using special host bodies made of different materials. After driving off the Appellaxians, the Justice League took the four remaining husks (made of gold, rock, crystal, and wood respectively) and kept them as trophies. Years later in the second season, the criminal organization Intergang used Apocolis Tech to combine the husks into a singular golem following their whim. [[spoiler:In the end, it gets destroyed by an ally of the Light to keep it from joining up with the heroes that were reaching out to it]].

** Not all of the instances are "devices", but this is more or less the entire point of the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''. Special mention goes to [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/fragment:scp-3145-3-682 SCP-3145 (SCP-682), the "hard-to-destroy reptile"]], which the Foundation has attempted to dispose of [[RunningGag again and again]], [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption always without success]].

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', the eponymous mask was previously used by a tribe in dark rituals before they realized how terrible its power was and sealed it in shadow. By the time the game begins, the Happy Mask Salesman is carrying it around as part of his collection like it's nothing, giving the Skull Kid a perfect opportunity to mug the Mask Salesman and take the mask from him.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' this actually works in the good guys' favor. While Zant used the Mirror of Twilight to enter Hyrule from the Twilight Realm, he tried to break the mirror so Midna and Link couldn't enter the Twilight Realm. However, Midna says only the true ruler of the Twili could break the mirror properly and that Zant is a fake, so she and Link go on a quest to retrieve the mirror shards and put the mirror back together. [[spoiler: After the game ends, Midna properly destroys the mirror, ensuring it would never be used again.]]
** The same could technically apply to the Fused Shadows in the context of the Hyrulians, but for Link and Midna it's more like BreakOutTheMuseumPiece. [[spoiler: This doesn't stop Ganondorf from crumbling them to pieces by the end]].

* ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'' used this as its premise. The pilot movie, ''WesternAnimation/StitchTheMovie'', showed that Jumba kept all his illegal genetic experiments dehydrated into balls and carefully locked in a single storage unit. By the end, the thing breaks and all the little balls rain all over the island, coming into contact with water and wreaking havoc everywhere. The series centers around Lilo and Stitch tracking down every experiment and finding the places each one belonged.

* Underneath Griffin Rock in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRescueBots'' lies a whole warehouse full of old inventions, including a large section known as the "Best Left Forgotten" shelf. Items left behind on that shelf managed to cause the plots of several episodes.
** A later episode revealed the presence of the Island of Misfit Tech, where devices too dangerous for the BLF shelf are teleported too. This trope comes into play in that a) the devices are never powered down, as Cody learns when he's accidently teleported there, and b) they're also fitted with a special retrieval device, ostensibly incase someone wants try their hand at reporposing them.

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' is occasionally savvy about this. The first time he dealt with [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Sidney Poindexter]], he ensures to smash his mirror portal so he can't return (he inexplicably does in "Reign Storm", but he's barely a villain by then). And when Danny has the Reality Gauntlet in his possession, he makes certain to blast it to pieces so it can't be used again. Played straighter in "Secret Weapons", where Vlad reveals he recovered the [[DeadlyUpgrade Fenton Battlesuit]], upgraded it and forced Jasmine to wear it.

** Played more straight with the Foundation's sister organization, the GOC Coalition, which is more about ''destroying'' anomalies, as opposed to the Foundation's operating procedure of ''containing'' them, save for a few exceptions such as the aformentioned 3145 (682). The latter justifies this by noting that more times than not, attempting to destroy an anomaly has the risk of backfiring (it ends up being something needed to handle a worse threat, it comes back as something worse, etc.). Special mention goes to [[http://www.scpwiki.com/scp-1609 SCP-1609]]; originally a comfy chair that would appear near someone in need of a relaxing sit-down, GOC agents' attempt to destroy it by putting it through a shredder only turned it into a temperamental pile of nail-ridden mulch that does. not. LIKE. GOC, weapons, or uniforms.(The agents were supposed to incinerate it, but there's no guarantee the result wouldn't be annoyed ash.)

** Not all of the instances are "devices", but this is more or less the entire point of the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''. Special mention goes to [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/fragment:scp-3145-3-682 SCP-3145 (SCP-682), the "hard-to-destroy reptile", which the Foundation has attempted to dispose of [[RunningGag again and again]], [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption always without success]].

* . Special mention goes to SCP-682, the "hard-to-destroy reptile", which the Foundation :

* Not all of the instances are "devices", but this is more or less the entire point of the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''. Special mention goes to SCP-682, the "hard-to-destroy reptile", which the Foundation has attempted to dispose of [[RunningGag again and again]], [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption always without success]].
** Played more straight with the Foundation's sister organization, the GOC Coalition, which is more about ''destroying'' anomalies, as opposed to the Foundation's operating procedure of ''containing'' them, save for a few exceptions such as the afformentioned 682. The latter justifies this by noting that more times than not, attempting to destroy an anomalie has the risk of backfiring (it ends up being something needed to handle a worse threat, it comes back as something worse, etc.).

** ''Try Try Again'' shows that GD has a "vault" where abandoned projects are stored, with little more than a single underpaid clerk keeping track of everything. [[spoiler: He's so underpaid that he regularly steals things to take apart and sell the pieces.]] Nobody seems to know what any of the stuff is or why it was shelved without access to the computer mainframe, and there's no care taken to ensure the shelved prototypes have their power sources removed and/or that neighboring devices don't effect each other. Included in the vault was a personal forcefield device that creates an ever expanding forcefield that pushes all matter in its way out of its way. Oh, and its backup power source is to suck the life out of the person its meant to protect.

* In the WesternAnimation/TeenTitans episode "X", it's discovered that an unknown individual had stolen the original Red X costume from Robin and has been using it for thieving. Discussed when Beast Boy suggests that he must be kicking himself that he never got rid of the suit before it was stolen, and Justified as Robin explains that the suit couldn't be destroyed; its Zynothium power source made it too dangerous to be disposed of safely.

* In the WesternAnimation/TeenTitans episode "X", it's discovered that an unknown individual had stolen the original Red X costume from Robin. Discussed when Beast Boy suggests that he must be kicking himself that he never got rid of the suit before it was stolen, and Justified as Robin explains that the suit couldn't be destroyed; its Zynothium power source made it too dangerous to be disposed of safely.

* Discussed in the WesternAnimation/TeenTitans episode "X". After finding out that someone had stolen the original Red X costume from Robin, Beast Boy suggests that he must be kicking himself that he never got rid of the suit before it was stolen. Justified as Robin explains that the suit couldn't be destroyed; its Zynothium power source made it too dangerous to be disposed of safely.

* In ''Series/AgentsofShield'', the "Slingshot program" is designed to get rid of technology or objects deemed too dangerous for ''anyone'' to possess, by loading them into a rocket and shooting them into the sun. [[spoiler: Except that the entire project is a fake, meant to make it LOOK like the devices were destroyed, while they're actually stored in a SHIELD facility for later study or possible use. This turns out poorly when Hydra raids the place and takes their pick.]]