History Main / CutTheJuice

* ''Plan 7 of 9 from Outer Space''. Captain Proton and Martian agent [=TuMok=] are trying to deactivate a doomsday device that will cause mass flooding. [=TuMok=] states he's tried numerous {{technobabble}} solutions to no avail. Proton asks if he's tried pulling out the power cord by his foot. [[spoiler:[=TuMok=] reaches down... and picks up a dropped weapon which he points at Proton, as he wants the device to go off to soften Earth up for an AlienInvasion.]]

* In Creator/KimNewman's {{Deconstruction}} of sci-fi tropes, ''Literature/TomorrowTown'', the BigBad's attempt to cobble together a DoomsdayDevice by setting the heating system to overload is thwarted by the supercomputer advising that for safety reasons, Circuit Breaker 15 should be pulled. Once done, the hero points out that despite what the BigBad appears to think, in the future (which the titular community is attempting to predict) it's unlikely that communities and public offices will come equipped with self-destruct mechanisms or {{Doomsday Device}}s just in case an incumbent doesn't feel like giving up power once their term of office is up.

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': "The controls are fused! I can't shut it down! He's going to FRY-- [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100305 AND NO POWER ON EARTH CAN STOP IT!"]]

# [[ItWontTurnOff Dramatically ignored]]. You can tell that this one is coming when unplugging the device is one of the first options considered ([[FailsafeFailure especially if it has been introduced before as a "failsafe"]]). Simply put, the machine's power supply cannot be compromised so easily, especially if its inventors (or the AI itself) manages to reroute power or relocate its source. Incidentally, if you are not a hero and you are ever in this situation, ''run''.

* ''AmericanDad'': In "Rabbit Ears", as Stan and Tuttle escape from the supernatural TV show they've been trapped in, they're pursued by the demonic entity that runs it, which begins to force itself through the television screen...until the TV suddenly shuts off, and Tuttle reveals that he pulled the plug ("Look what I got!" *twirls plug*).

* ''Film/WarGames''. If power to the master computer is cut, the silos would assume that Cheyenne Mountain had been nuked (since they are at [[DefconFive Defcon 1]]), and launch their missiles in response.

* In the ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel ''The Guns of Tanith'', a squad of Ghosts are trying to figure out how to disable the force fields the enemy has wired into the city they are trying to take while in the main control room. The problem is solved by Major Kolea, who pulls one lever and shuts down the entire power grid.
* In one of the later ''Literature/{{Ender|sGame}}'' books, a MD Device[[note]]planet-buster[[/note]] is on countdown to destroy a ship. The technician flips a switch and turns the Device off. When it's pointed out that disarming it was considerably simpler than originally arming it, he responds along the lines of "It's designed that way ''for a reason''."

* If a [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] or UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} game freezes up with a loud noise, you'll have to unplug it because no buttons will work once that happens; not even the reset button.

* ''Plan 7 of 9 from Outer Space''. When a TinCanRobot tries to arrest them, [[Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainProton Captain Proton]] and Buster Kincaid keep it busy while [=TuMok=] sneaks up behind it and yanks out its power cord.

-->"Have you tried yanking out that power cord by your foot?"

** In ''Film/GoldenEye'', [[SmugSnake Boris]] flips out when Natalya "spikes" his computer, which also prevents him from disconnecting his computer from hers, and rips it apart to break the connection. Considering the fact that he could have just shut off the computer, or, even easier, turned off the internet connection (pull out the ethernet cord or shutdown a router), the apparently thousands of dollars of damage he inflicts on the computer is really stupid

* ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness''. Bones and Carol Marcus are trying to defuse a photon torpedo when a hatch shuts on Bone's arm, trapping him in place, and a timer starts counting down. Carol frantically tries to defuse the weapon, but with only seconds left she resorts to yanking out the power core. Fortunately that works.

* '’TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'': At one point, Friend Computer decides to learn more about Commies by simulating a Commie Complex, with memory-altered humans and a compnode presenting itself as "Tovarisch Computer". Naturally, actual Commies snuck in some malware to make it ''actually'' support the Commies, eventually driving Friend Computer to cut off its power before it could infect the other compnodes. (Kind of like self-lobotomy, but [[GodzillaThreshold given the alternative...]])

* Parodied in ''VideoGame/Disgaea3''. After facing down the trauma inside Mao's heart (a rematch with the Chapter 1 boss, [[ItMakesSenseInContext the gigantic hand and digits of Mao's father]], the boss suddenly ''revives itself'', leading the party into a panic. Almaz, however, notices that the trauma is plugged into a large socket, and pulls the plug. Subverted a few minutes later when we learn of the outright damaging effect unplugging the trauma had on Mao.

So really, this trope is used in just about any situation where it can be effective or dramatic. Now if only we could [[AreTheseWiresImportant do the same thing]] with those [[CrushKillDestroy pesky robots...]]

* In ''Film/PacificRim'', [[spoiler:[[{{Kaiju}} Leatherback]] can ''specifically'' do this and in fact did, blacking out the entirety of Hong Kong and shutting down Striker Eureka.]]

* In ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'', Walter Peck orders a utility worker to do this to the team's ghost containment unit. This turns out to be a really bad idea.

* Averted in ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' which opens with S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters being evacuated because the Tesseract has turned itself on, which is [[MassOhCrap universally regarded as Bad News]].
-->'''Nick Fury:''' I assume you've pulled the plug?
-->'''Dr Selvig:''' She's an energy source! We turn off the power, she turns it back on.

* Used in ''VideoGame/{{Safecracker}}'' to unlock a safe that requires a code that you are never given, done by switching off the power strip it's connected to.