History Main / AreTheseWiresImportant

** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In "Night", Tom Paris ropes in a bored Seven of Nine to play the DamselInDistress in the holodeck program ''Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainProton''. On being menaced by a TinCanRobot, [[CuttingTheKnot Seven deactivates it by quickly opening an access hatch and ripping out a handful of wires and electronic components]]. "The robot is destroyed. May I go now?"

** ''Film/IronMan1'': During the final fight with [[BigBad Iron Monger]], Tony Stark quips "This looks important!" and rips the targeting sensor out of his armor. This is an especially justified example of the trope, as the Iron Monger is based on Tony's own design, so he would obviously know exactly where to grab and yank.

* In ''{{TabletopGame/BattleTech}}'', this is a favored attack method of battle armor with a battle claw and jumpjets. That is to say, they jump up to a [[HumongousMecha Battlemech]], grab hold and generally start shooting holes in delicate looking things. It's not a battle armour specialty, either; there's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Anti-'Mech Infantry]] who do exactly the same thing with nothing but their bare hands, climbing gear, a combat rifle and satchel charges. They [[WeHaveReserves tend to take]] [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome tremendous casualties]] in the process, given that they're chasing after a multi-story war machine's feet trying to climb up, normally while it's moving. [[SuicideAttack Suicidal]], but for underequipped units that can't take on a 'mech in direct combat it's better to take a chance of having half the army smeared over the landscape than to [[RapePillageAndBurn just allow the things to do whatever they want.]] Especially against the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Clans,]] who don't mind sending 'Freebirths', and anyone above 40 to their honorable deaths.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Stray}}'', to unlock three consoles in the [[spoiler:Control Room]] the Cat must find a nearby wiring panel and claw at the wires until the security protocol goes offline.

* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series, Borg drones can generally be disabled by yanking out the wires attached to their heads. Given they're super-strong cyborgs, however, this is generally considered a last resort.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In "Night", Tom Paris ropes in a bored Seven of Nine to play the DamselInDistress in the holodeck program ''Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainProton''. On being menaced by a TinCanRobot, Seven deactivates it by quickly opening an access hatch and ripping out a handful of wires and electronic components. "The robot is destroyed. May I go now?"

->''"This looks important!"'' [''yoink'']

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
** In an issue of ''Spectacular ComicBook/SpiderMan'', Spidey lands on the Vulture's back mid-flight and begins ripping things out of the Vulture's wing-pack. The flight ends pretty quickly.
** In The ''Amazing Spider-Man'', Red Hulk tries this strategy on one of Doc Ock's giant robots and is surprised when it doesn't work. Chameleon mentions that he is used to fighting government-issue giant robots, whereas Doc Ock's is built with an incredible amount of redundancy.
** On more than one occasion, Spider-Man has defeated a robot by punching a hole in its outer shell and emptying his webshooters into the inside.

* ComicBook/AtomicRobo is fond of this tried-and-true technique. Bash in and start yanking.

* In one ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'', Kitty Pryde phases inside of a [[AIIsACrapshoot rampaging]] physical manifestation of the Danger Room and attempts to stop it this way. Becomes a bit of a MexicanStandoff, as she needs to turn solid to damage it, and it threatens to kill her as soon as she does.
* ComicBook/{{Superboy}}:

* This is probably ComicBook/SquirrelGirl's favorite trick. She's used her ability to [[SpeaksFluentAnimal Talk To Squirrels]] to defeat both [=MODOK=] and Doctor Doom.
* Parodied in a ''[[ComicBook/RatMan1989 Rat-Man]]'' issue where, to stop a conspiracy of evil geologists ([[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext don't ask]]), the hero infiltrates their base, finds a control room and smashes every piece of machinery he can put his hands on. This has the effect of shorting out the conspiracy's vending machine.
* ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'': Inverted in ''The Shooting Star'': Captain Haddock is wondering why the radio isn't working, when the scientist next to him holds up two wires and asks if they're supposed to be plugged into something. The captain had accidentally yanked them out due to his LargeHam tendencies.
* In a late '70s issue of ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'', the team is trying to stop a giant robot called Red Ronin -- designed, incidentally, to fight Godzilla -- from reaching New York and presumably destroying it. Thor's not around, and the rest of the team -- Iron Man, Wonder Man, Vision, Captain America, and a few others -- are fighting Ronin from outside, along with the Shield Helicarrier. But not Beast. He makes his way inside the mecha, finds the control room, sits down, and susses out how it's controlled, then yanks the one plug that will cause the thing to shut down. It's a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''Film/JudgeDredd:'' Fergee (Dredd's [[PluckyComicRelief Comic Relief Sidekick]]) disables Rico's robot by yanking out some of the wires behind its head.

* ''Film/TheAvengers1998''. Steed rips the guts out of one of Sir August's robot insects after it crashes into Mrs. Peel's car.
* In ''Film/LaraCroftTombRaider'' Lara pulls out a few wires from her practice robot to try and stop it; oddly, it then responds to a stop command.

* A similar [[MagicAIsMagicA mystical]] variation on the trope is used in the ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}'' series. [[RunOrDie Steel Inquisitors]] are named for the large spikes piercing their bodies, some of which are in positions that should kill them. Places like through the heart, or [[EyeScream in through the eye sockets]] [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice and out the back of the skull]]. One property of the spikes is that they don't interfere with the Steel Inquisitors' brains or hearts (and they [[DisabilitySuperpower compensate for the loss of their eyes]]), but the holes left behind by removed spikes have no such properties, they can survive having some of the spikes removed, but removing the "linchpin" spike in their back, or both eye spikes will kill them.
* How Jack Ryan stopped the sabotage caused by TheMole that would have destroyed the titular submarine in ''Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober'', by yanking out everything he could yank (shocking himself in the process and giving himself a scare), then smashing everything left that he could smash, leaving the components inside resembling "the inside of his daughter's toy box".

* In the ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' episode "You Can't Go Home again," Starbuck is trying to get a dead Cylon Raider to fly. As she is examining the interior, she looks at what appears to be a large mass of tissue and says "This must be your brain. You won't need it," and yanks it out. "Lucky I brought one of my own."
* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series, Borg drones can generally be disabled by yanking out the wires attached to their heads. Given they're super-strong cyborgs, however, this is generally considered a last resort.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In "Night", Tom Paris ropes in a bored Seven of Nine to play the DamselInDistress in the holodeck program ''Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainProton''. On being menaced by a TinCanRobot, Seven deactivates it by quickly opening an access hatch and ripping out a handful of wires and electronic components. "The robot is destroyed. May I go now?"

* In ''The Automan's Daughter'', Siddig Khan activates a mecha by [[http://automansdaughter.com/comic/issue-2-page-8 tripping its heat targeting]], [[http://automansdaughter.com/comic/issue-2-page-9 cutting open its bottom panel with a ''table knife'', tearing its wires out]], and [[http://automansdaughter.com/comic/issue-2-page-10 climbing up into the turret]]. And it was all to prove a point.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'':
** BadassNormal Robin did this to a squid-shaped robot in an early episode. As ''WebVideo/TeenTitansTheAbridgedSeries'' points out, he was somehow able to punch through the robot's armor despite Starfire's laser blasts having absolutely no effect.
** A more realistic example had Beast Boy turn into a mouse, crawl into the giant robot, and start biting all the wires he could see, although one must wonder how he avoided being shocked to death.
* Flash:

** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': Flash likes this. In "The Brave and the Bold" he did something similar to Grodd's mind control helmet, at super speed, while making it look like he was just slapping his head repeatedly.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', Bumblebee does this to Skyquake while clinging to the exterior of his jet mode in midair; once he yanks enough stuff out, the Seeker goes into a nosedive and fatally crashes into the ground.
** Long before that in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', during a deliberately slapsticky fight near the end of the first season one of the Maximals yanks a wire out of Inferno while they're in midair. [[GravityIsAHarshMistress His jet booster sputters for a bit, he hangs there for a beat, then he plummets to the ground.]]
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars'', Mace Windu cuts a hole in a droid fighter with his lightsaber, yanks at some wires... and starts using them as ''reins''. Implausible as all get out, but it looks cool.

* In the ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' episode "Parasites Lost", [[ItMakesSenseInContext Fry does this to his own brain]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Mr. Incredible pulls the CPU out ''twice'' from Syndrome's battle droids. Both times, he gets the battle droid to do it to [[StopHittingYourself itself]].

** Also true (though to a lesser degree) with system ''files'' on a computer. Whether specific to a particular program or applicable to the operating system as a whole, rummaging through the files and deleting something at random is a good way to make it stop working.

** Also true (though to a lesser degree) with system ''files'' on a computer too. Whether specific to a particular program or applicable to the operating system as a whole, rummaging through the files and deleting something at random is a good way to make it stop working.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muntzing "Muntzing"]] (named after [[HonestJohnsDealership mid-20th century car salesman and self-taught electrical engineer Earl "Madman" Muntz]]) is the technique of reducing the number of components inside an electrical appliance to a minimum. In order to come up with the basis for an inexpensive TV, Muntz took contemporary models and removed one component of a time until they stopped working. After he put that "last wire" back, the resulting designs worked as well as their more complex predecessors in areas with good reception[[labelnote:*]]most of the parts he removed were intended to strengthen weak signals[[/labelnote]], were cheaper, and (since fewer components meant less heat, in an era when that mattered) were often more reliable too.
** However this only worked as at the time [=TVs=] were over-engineered so they could work in a wide variety of locations. Muntz's [=TVs=] could only work if one was in a city and near the TV broadcast towers.... Which was where most of his customers were anyway.

** Though subverted once in a popular computing urban legend, where a company adds unnecessary components to their hardware to make it run slower, so that when it comes time for the "upgrade", they need only to remove a wire. Usually the punchline is a disgruntled programmer sending out a memo to customers warning them not to remove the blue wire or else the result will be their computer running 1.07 times faster. In this case only one specific wire removed would achieve this result. Any other would invoke the trope in full force.
*** [[http://www.rinkworks.com/stupid/cs_smoke.shtml At least someone]] has shown by testing with his/her computer that urban legend is wrong.
** Task Manager, anyone? Or worse, the computer registry. Note that you theoretically ''can'' improve performance by messing with those - after a year or more of installing and uninstalling things, junk data can pile up and cause an impact on the system. Of course, if you don't know ''exactly'' what you're doing, you can easily delete something important while trying to clean out junk data, resulting in serious system problems.
*** I call your task manager and registry, and raise you one file allocation table. ''Everything on your hard drive is now gone.'' (Or, technically, the computer doesn't know where any of it is.)
*** I call your FAT (no, I'm not calling *you* FAT) and raise you a partition table. Now your computer can't even find the drive. Or flash your BIOS with something buggy - now it can't find ANYTHING. Modern computers are full of tiny-but-critical "locator" tools, without which large sections of things don't work.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muntzing "Muntzing"]] (named after [[HonestJohnsDealership mid-20th century car salesman and self-taught electrical engineer Earl "Madman" Muntz]]) is the practice-cum-technique of reducing the number of components inside an electrical appliance to a minimum. In order to come up with the basis for an inexpensive TV, Muntz took contemporary models and removed one component of a time until they stopped working. After he put that "last wire" back, the resulting designs worked as well as their more complex predecessors in areas with good reception[[labelnote:*]]most of the parts he removed were intended to strengthen weak signals[[/labelnote]], were cheaper, and (since fewer components meant less heat, in an era when that mattered) were often more reliable too.

** Not just the wiring, but the plumbing. Aircraft have redundant hydraulic systems to move the flight control surfaces, each system with its own pump. In the event of a failure of one system, from losing pressure, fluid, or the pump, automatic valves close to isolate it from the other system. But sometimes, ''both'' systems can fail: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_191 American Airlines Flight 191]] crashed after a damaged engine mount cracked, letting the engine fly off and tearing out lines from both hydraulic systems.

* TruthInTelevision: Open a computer case and pull a wire out at random. Any wire. Chances are something will go horribly wrong to prevent it from working when you try to turn it back on. DontTryThisAtHome.

* In general, if there's a wire, it's there for a reason. If you disconnect, cut, or otherwise remove the wire from the equation, chances are you just stopped ''something'' from working. This could be as simple as unplugging a lamp, or as complex as disabling the safety system for a huge piece of technology (though in the latter case, that's what backups and redundant safety systems are for).

* In a late '70s issue of ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'', the team is trying to stop a giant robot called Red Ronin -- designed, incidentally, to fight Godzilla -- from reaching New York and presumably destroying it. Thor's not around, and the rest of the team -- Iron Man, Wonder Man, Vision, Captain America, and a few others -- are fighting Ronin from outside, along with the Shield Helicarrier. But not Beast. He makes his way inside the mecha, finds the control room, sits down, and susses out how it's controlled, then yanks the one plug that will cause the thing to shut down. It's a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome.

** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Drax kills Korath by ripping out the mechanisms sprouting from his head.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'':

** However this only worked as at the time [=TVs=] were over-engineered so they could work it a wide variety of locations. Muntz's [=TVs=] could only work if one was in a city and near the TV broadcast towers.... Which was where most of his customers were anyway.

* D'argo does this to disconnect Moya's "control collar" in the first episode of ''Series/{{Farscape}}''.

* One of the funnier cutscenes in ''VideoGame/MDK2'' is Max trying to stop a doomsday missile aimed at the Earth. Because he isn't known for finesse, he just opens a panel and starts rapidly ripping every component out he can get his hands on. Unfortunately, he can't stop it, however he does apparently disable the navigation and the warhead, causing it to harmlessly crash into the palace where Kurt is. Max tries to play it off that he arrived to save him.

->'''Ben as Greymatter''': I wonder what would happen if I did ''this''? ''(Pulls out a wire)''

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': Wash's contribution to the crash of the ''Hand of Merope'' is to do this.

* It happens in [[http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=47&issue=14 this issue]] of ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja''.

[[folder:{{Webcomics}}]]

[[folder: Web Original]]

[[folder:{{Western Animation}}]]

[[folder:{{Real Life}}]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Stray}}'', to unlock three consoles in the [[spoiler:Control Room]] the Cat must find a nearby wiring panel and scratch at it until the security protocol goes offline.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Mr. Incredible pulls the CPU out ''twice'' from Syndrome's battle droids. Both times, he gets the battle droid to do it to [[StopHittingYourself ''itself'']].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryBlastOffToMars'', there is Invince-a-tron, a [[HumongousMecha Giant-Robot]] who using a giant vacuum cleaner to suck up the earth civilians. When Jerry opened the robot’s upper hatch, makes it popped a lid, afterward he attracted Spike Bulldog and threw its dog bones into the robot's head then closed it. This action has made the robot on the blink, but Spike successfully invade the robot body from penetrated its instep is a body blow. When [[ColossusClimb slowly climbing]] on the robot's head, Spike yanks out the robot's wires violently for retrieving his bones back despite without a scene about his actual behavior, eventually making the robot a complete malfunction.

* Parodied in a ''ComicBook/{{Rat-Man}}'' issue where, to stop a conspiracy of evil geologists ([[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext don't ask]]), the hero infiltrates their base, finds a control room and smashes every piece of machinery he can put his hands on. This has the effect of shorting out the conspiracy's vending machine.

* In ''The Automan's Daughter'', Siddig Khan activates a mecha by [[http://automansdaughter.com/comic/issue-2-page-8 tripping its heat targeting]], [[http://automansdaughter.com/comic/issue-2-page-9 cutting open its bottom panel with a ''table knife'', tearing its wires out]], and [[http://automansdaughter.com/comic/issue-2-page-10 climbing up into the turret]]. And it was all to prove a point.