History Main / ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest

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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4dd408bc_0807_4d43_84a0_a06f3309196f.jpeg]]]]

* ''Webcomic/StickManStickMan'' plays with this when Tina gets a screwdriver: see strips [[http://stickman.qntm.org/comics.php?n=862 862,]] [[http://stickman.qntm.org/comics.php?n=877 877,]] [[http://stickman.qntm.org/comics.php?n=886 886.]]
* The kids in ''Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures'' spend a lot of their time "alchemizing" various things. A few of them are useful, but most of the time, they just seem to be goofing around making things that are never referenced again.

* Subverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. After Quagmire has an affair with Cleveland's wife, Cleveland's swears revenge. Quagmire hires Mayor Adam West as a guard, but after failing to keep still, West decides to leave while giving Quagmire a banana and telling him "When the time comes, [[YouWillKnowWhatToDo you'll know]]." Later, when Cleveland is chasing him, Quagmire throws the banana... and it does nothing. The scene is set up to {{invoke|dTrope}} the classic banana peel gag to viewers, but [[GenreBlind Quagmire forgot to peel the banana before throwing it]].

* As a parody or tribute to ''Film/JamesBond'', ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' uses the exact same "three gadgets that each get used once" shtick.

* On ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'', Presto's [[BagOfHolding magic hat]] had a habit of [[RummageFail never producing what Presto wanted]], but instead producing something that was only useful with a bit of lateral thinking.
* The fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' consists of a StoryArc which involves a mysterious six-locked chest. Over the course of the season, each pony is given an item that gives off a rainbow shimmer. The finale reveals they're the keys in disguise; when coming into contact with one of the locks, they turn into their true forms.
* ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'': In [[Recap/MollyOfDenaliS1E33StandBackUpSealMeal Seal Meal]]," Sven lets Molly borrow his fishing hat, which has an extra fly and a bit of string in case she needs them. Sven's dog Thor rubs up against Molly, leaving some of his fur on her. Molly keeps it and uses it later to make a new fly.

* Not really useless in value, but the wedding ring in ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'' is given to you in Episode 2 and proceeds to uselessly sit in your inventory. [[spoiler: It ends up being the solution to the final puzzle of Episode 5]].

* There's [[http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/BladeRunner/Update%2018/index.html a piece of moldy cheese]] you had to pick up in the ''VideoGame/BladeRunner'' adventure game, too. You have to PixelHunt to get it. [[JustifiedTrope Semi-justified]] in that [[OnlyElectricSheepAreCheap cheese was]] [[ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin an illegal substance]] in the story. (Yes, they made a ''Film/BladeRunner'' AdventureGame. It has 13 alternate endings.)
* In ''VideoGame/{{Uninvited}}'', picking up a certain seemingly important gem results in being demonically possessed about three turns later. Whoops. This is played differently in the NES version of the game, where it instead possesses you after 64 turns- which still isn't enough to complete the game.
* Every Creator/{{Infocom}} game includes at least one of these. The best is the piece of braided black string in ''VideoGame/{{Zork}} 2'', which seems completely useless at first, but turns out to be [[spoiler:the fuse necessary to make sure you can get away before the plastic explosive to blast open the locked box goes off, without which setting off the plastic explosive kills you automatically]].

* ''[[VideoGame/SilentHill4 Silent Hill 4: The Room]]'' subverts this trope with the "Shabby Doll", kindly offered to you by [[AxCrazy Walter Sullivan]] halfway through the game. Not only can you not use it, nor does it help you out in any way, but stashing it away in your inventory results in [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination life-sucking, weeping baby heads]] sprouting from the walls]]. Players aware of this simply refuse the 'Shabby Doll', but those who aren't ''will'' accept it, [[KleptomaniacHero because there is no reason to not take it]].
* A very minor example occurs in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' if you choose all the paragon interactions with the Asari Consort. She gives you a seemingly worthless trinket that you can later use on another planet, to discover a recording made by the protheans of early humanity (with some ExperiencePoints and Credits of course).

* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'': You're given a Lute by Princess Sarah after you defeat Garland. This item does absolutely nothing until the [[DefinitelyFinalDungeon final dungeon]], where you play it to break a seal and move on. Remakes show your lead character playing it. The song? The Prelude.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', if you talk to Yang's wife at a certain point, she will give you a spoon. This turns out to be a '''[[ImprovisedWeapon thrown weapon]],''' and [[spoiler:the only weapon that does max damage against the final boss.]]
** Earlier in the game, you get the FRYING PAN OF LOVE, no mere spoon, which is also [[spoiler:a ridiculously strong throwing weapon. You're supposed to use the frying pan on Yang, and she'll give you the Spoon]], which is an even better throwing weapon .
*** Actually [[JustifiedTrope justified]], as the original Japanese indicates it is ''not'' a Spoon but a Kitchen Knife [[note]]包丁, Hōchō[[/note]], and in later ports and remakes, the "spoon" is much properly translated as such.
** At the start of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', the [[DecoyProtagonist main character]] Vaan breaks into the Palace of Rabanastre to 'liberate' the treasure within from the imperials. However, thanks to well-times distractions, he only manages to steal a shiny rock. This turns out to be the Dusk Shard, which falls into enemy hands when Vaan is captured. In a subversion, it's the villain who nearly wins because of it -- he attempts to use it to power a giant airship.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', if Squall talks to Cid just before leaving for his first [=SeeD=] mission, Cid presents him with an old lamp which he says is a cursed item but might come in handy. The lamp has the [[SummonMagic Guardian Force]] Diablos sealed inside it.
* In ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction'', The Plumber hands Ratchet a 3 3/4 Centicubit Hexagonal Washer saying "you never know when you'll need it." This item is utterly worthless throughout the game. As it turns out, [[spoiler:it's used at the end to repair the Dimensionator and prevent it from destroying the galaxy.]]
* In ''VideoGame/LunarSilverStarStoryComplete'', you have Alex's ocarina from the beginning. You won't really need it until the very end when you have to [[spoiler:save Luna from her self-imposed HeroicSacrifice]].
* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing''
** The "Wand of Nagamar" has no combat or utility value (though the combat messages could be entertaining). However, it's required on the final Council Quest [[spoiler:to provide an absurdly unlikely finale to The Naughty Sorceress.]]
** The game has a considerable (and sporadically growing) number of such items, varying in degree of apparent uselessness, and has slowly begun to add skills of this type (such as the Disco Bandit skill "Gothy Handwave", which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin -- and unlike other dance skills, does exactly what it does in real life).
** Very few examples are actually handed to the player with the accompanying dialog, the rest of them RandomlyDrops without drawing attention to their significance. The Amulet of Plot Significance which drops on the Penultimate Fantasy Airship is one subversion, but the [[Franchise/FinalFantasy Cid-like]] CaptainErsatz on the same ship gives you two items critical to completing that quest and TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.
*** After the Level 10 quest revamp, the Amulet of Plot Significance ''does'' help you on your quest, as it can be used to unlock the second level of the Giant's Castle.
* Every game of ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndHisDesktopAdventures'' (an adventure game where the world and puzzles are randomly generated each time) should begin with Marcus giving you a briefing and giving you "something to get you going" -- usually a priceless ancient artifact which inevitably turns out to be just the thing an NPC needs.
* In the first ''[[VideoGame/{{Bionicle}} Mata Nui Online Game]]'', after the Po-Koro event, as a reward for helping the town, you are given an item, the "Po-Koro chisel" which seems to have absolutely no use, surprising in a game where every single item serves at least some purpose in one way or another. Flash-forward to the ending cutscenes of the game where Takua is fleeing from [[spoiler:the newly-awakened Bohrok]], and he discovers a device with an indentation that bears a staggering resemblance to the chisel. If you can't guess what happens next, you haven't been paying much attention.
* ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'':
** One game that averted this was the original, which, due to having multiple characters and multiple endings, has many items that were worthless if you have the wrong party. It also has items that are completely worthless no matter what, such as the chainsaw, which has no fuel.
** Interestingly, the sequel ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle'' goes back to the traditional tactic of not only having every single item be used at least once, but if the item is small enough to be passed through time, it will be needed in another time.
** The only item that's never used is the hubcap....and you can leave it where it is.
* Played with a bit in ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' 's first campaign, which has protagonists Jim Raynor and [[TheLancer Tychus Findlay]] (along with their army) gathering seemingly benign [[{{Precursors}} Xel'naga]] artifacts for the [[ArtifactCollectionAgency Moebius Foundation]] early on in the plot. While the fanatic [[TheFundamentalist Tel'darim]] put up quite a fight for it, and the [[CoolStarship Hyperion's]] resident scientist [[TheSmartGuy Egan Stettman]] detects some weird readings from them, none of them suspected that the artifacts were actually the [[spoiler: [[DismantledMacGuffin pieces]] of a LostSuperweapon]]
* Everything about Marle's pendant in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. It starts out as a {{MacGuffin}}, but once you go to Zeal, it's ''very'' important.
* The Dynamix adventure game ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheDragon'' has one character give you the following items all at once:
** A shiny rock, for luck. Useless.
** A tome of "Ancient Wisdom." Every page reads [-"[[AllThatGlitters Don't Worry, Be Happy]]"-]
** A fortune cookie with gibberish on it. [[spoiler: Contains the solution to a game of Simon in the last part of the game.]]
** And, "in case all else fails, some body armor."
* In ''[[VideoGame/TheSpellcastingSeries Spellcasting 101]]'', there is a book that is so good you can't put it down. Literally. Once it's in your inventory, you can't drop it. [[spoiler: In the penultimate puzzle, you give it to the BigBad, and since he can't put the book down, he can't activate the MacGuffin, as the activation buttons are on opposite sides of it, requiring the use of two free hands.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheOrionConspiracy'', [=LaPaz=] will give Devlin keys to open the cupboard in Danny's room. Also, Ward will give you a rotten biscuit to spite you later on. In both cases, the items are immediately useful in some way.
* ''Green Moon'' is full of items that seem initially useless but turn out to be necessary for spells or potions.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Parodied in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'': the post game begins with [[spoiler:Looker]] coming to your home to ask for help [[spoiler:apprehending Team Plasma's 7 Sages.]] He then gives you a Super Rod (a fishing rod), and the player character's mother asks what help a fishing rod would be. After thinking for a minute he admits that it would be ''no help whatsoever.''
** Also seems to show up in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' and the remakes. The player's mother saves some of the money they earn and randomly buys items. She'll always say "I'm sure you'll find it useful" or something like that when she calls to tell you.
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers'', the partner has a relic fragment which they treasure despite it being a useless item, and your first quest is to take it back after it has been stolen. This later turns out to be [[spoiler: the artifact needed to allow one to enter the Hidden Land, which includes the final dungeon of the game's main story.]]
* In ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'', the main character, Stocke, is given a seemingly useless book by his boss at the beginning of a mission.[[spoiler:It ends up saving his life, and kickstarts the plot from there, by giving him the ability to travel to specific points in time.]]
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/CasperTheFriendlyGhost Casper]]: A Haunting 3D Challenge'' you collect fool's gold coins throughout the game. They appear useless until the final boss, where ghost Carrigan chases you around a maze and you can drop coins to distract her.
* In the cancelled ''[[Franchise/WarcraftExpandedUniverse Warcraft]] Adventures: Lord of the Clans'', Thrall has to chase vultures off of a wolf's corpse so he can grab the bladder and stash it in his pocket. Of course, you end up needing it later on, but one has to wonder what compelled him to pick up a ([[UrineTrouble still full]]) ''bladder'' in the first place...

* In ''VideoGame/OkageShadowKing'' main character Ari receives the music box his dad gave his mom when he was younger. It isn't used until Ari encounters Princess Marlene, where he gives it to her (regardless of what choice you pick), and wouldn't come into play until [[spoiler: Ari disappears from the world, as the box is how Marlene is able to remember Ari due to his status being the only one not affected by Beiloune's Classification]]
* ''VideoGame/ArcTheLadTwilightOfTheSpirits'' has the mother of the main human character, Kharg, giving him an item called the [[MacGuffin Wind Stone]], which was owned by his father which he split with his mother. It turns out [[spoiler: the Wind Stone is one of the five Great Spirit Stones, and his twin brother, Darc, has the other half]].
* Parodied in ''VideoGame/IcewindDaleII'': Early in the game, you can pick up a dead cat item after completing a quest. Much later in the game, if you've held onto this useless item for all this time, you can get a dialogue option to offer it to another character. The character asks why on earth you would have a dead cat, to which you can guiltily admit that you thought it might solve some problem in the future and [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall help you learn something from the experience]].
* In the ''Shadows of Hong Kong'' DLC for ''Videogame/ShadowrunReturns'', before the first main mission, you have the option of purchasing a "Rat Party" sim from Jomo for a pittance. You're not told what it does or how to use it. During the Lily Lai mission, you can interface it with a hologram projector to create a swarm of rats, thereby driving off the guards between you and the building's exit.
* In ''[[VideoGame/DontEscape Don't Escape: 4 Days in a Wasteland]]'', when you find the floppy disk you get a feeling that it's going to be very important, and the game warns you not to let go of it under any circumstances.
* ''VideoGame/MysteryCaseFiles'': ''Return to Ravenhearst'', ''very'' early in the game you get a damp rag. And you're carrying it. And you're carrying it. It's long moved up to the head of your inventory. Turns out, about three-fourths of the way through the game, [[spoiler:you need it to wipe dirt off the glass of a picture frame to get a necessary code.]]

* In Mercer Mayer's version of ''Literature/EastOfTheSunAndWestOfTheMoon'', the heroine meets a PlantPerson of the forest, a [[SummonBiggerFish Giant Fish]] of the ocean, and the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification North Wind]], each of whom gives them a gift which she needs to use in order to defeat the Troll Princess: a bow and arrow from the king of the forest, a fish scale, and a tinderbox. In the last case, [[spoiler:she needs to free her prince from a block of ice. The tinderbox burns the drapes, melting the ice, which douses the flames]].
* In ''Bargaglina and the Three Singing Apples'', a boy is cursed to never grow taller until he finds the titular character. The boy is given a magic stone, a magic comb, and a bag of fog by the people he meets on his journey, who all tell him that these objects may help him. When he steals the singing apple containing Bargaglina, the witch that guards the singing apples magically summons armies of horsemen to chase after him. He remembers the objects he was given and uses them to escape. The stone turns into a mountain, which stops the first army, the comb turns into a giant mirror which scares away the second army, and the bag of fogs floods the entire area in fog so the last army cannot find him.

* From ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'': Dumbledore with great ceremony gives Harry... his father's rock and tells him to keep it with him at all times. It's just a big rock which is not special in any way. [[spoiler: The fact that it actually does come in useful, and the circumstances where it does, are seen as so suspicious in-universe that it completely changes the state of political alliances by bringing the Malfoys in under Harry's personal banner. It later turns out that there was a prophecy about the rock, and that while Dumbledore hadn't known why it was important, he had known that it would be useful in some way.]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* [[IWasQuiteALooker Miss Spink and Miss Forcible]] know ''exactly'' what WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}} needs... a piece of rock with a hole in it. It helps. Well, they ''are'' good for bad things. Or is it ''lost'' things...? They were just savvy enough to recognize the utility of a [[http://www.pantheon.org/articles/f/fairy.html Self-bored Stone]].

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

* The everyday items in ''Film/{{Paycheck}}''. Rare film example of a plot setup involving the character collecting otherwise useless everyday items, {{justified|Trope}} in that the character knew exactly [[NoteToSelf what was going to happen]] in the future and when. Although why such a security-conscious company would allow him, with their knowledge, to take a key card with him is anybody's guess.
* In the ''[[Film/StarWarsEwokAdventures Ewok Adventure]]'' TV movie, Mace is given a seemingly useless rock by Chief Chirpa. He discards it, but Wicket picks it up and gives it back to him, to Mace's dismay. Later when the group is trying to find the entrance to the Gorax's cave, Mace tries to use his blaster to make an opening, but it fails to destroy the rock. However, when he breaks open the little innocuous rock given to him by Chief Chirpa, a little arrowhead falls out and zips under a nearby boulder, which is revealed to be a secret entrance to the cave.
* In ''Film/HighwayToHell'', Sam gives Charlie a magic shotgun built by his ex, Clara, and a car with a hidden turbo boost to help him on his quest.
* [[OncePerEpisode Almost every]] ''Film/JamesBond'' movie has Q give 007 a stack of gadgets, which he would use once each in the course of the film. These would usually be unveiled in descending order of [[SortingAlgorithmOfWeaponEffectiveness firepower]] and perceived uselessness, with the latter always proving to be the most essential, presumably because [[NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine his captors]] wouldn't think to [[MacGyvering take it]] from him. [[DiscOneNuke Much more]] advanced [[CowTools and bizarre]] technology in Q's lab would be pooh-poohed as [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup not ready for prime time]].

* ''Film/TheManWhoWouldBeKing'': In the glory days of the British Raj in India, ex-soldier Peachey Carnehan (Michael Caine) steals a pocket watch from a well-dressed white man (Christopher Plummer as Rudyard Kipling) at a train station. Peachey sees the watch fob is a Masonic emblem and, being a Mason himself, "has" to return the watch, hopefully without giving away his thievery. He does (or thinks so) and thus meets Kipling. Later Peachey and Daniel Dravot (Sean Connery), also an ex-soldier and Peachey's fellow "gentleman-of-fortune", meet with Kipling and tell him of a grand adventure they are about to embark on. Later still, as they leave for this adventure, in an impulsive gesture Kipling gives the watch fob to Dravot. It later saves their lives.

* Subverted in the ''Film/{{Cube}}'' films. Those imprisoned in the Cube have their memories wiped on HowWeGotHere, yet are often left personal items that help them (Leaven's reading glasses in ''Film/{{Cube}}'', so she can read the numbers on the rooms) or hinder them (Simon's knife in ''Film/Cube2Hypercube'', which makes him a threat to the others) or simply taunt them (Simon has a photo of the woman he was hired to find who has also been dumped in there, and a colonel is left with an empty HandcuffedBriefcase whose only use is to help him commit suicide). This is neither a ContrivedCoincidence nor an attempt to help them succeed but something to do with the unknown purpose of the Cube.

* In "Literature/NorthernLights" by Phillip Pullman the alethiometer (a divination device called the golden compass in the American edition of the book's title) is a very obvious instance of this trope. So are the titular Subtle Knife and Amber Spyglass of the other two books in the trilogy.
* In C.S. Lewis's ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' three of the four main characters are each given a special object by none other than Father Christmas. [[spoiler:Edmund]] was off elsewhere at the time.

* ''Literature/TheHobbit'': Bilbo finds the One Ring by complete accident.
-->''He crawled along for a good way, till suddenly his hand met what felt like a tiny ring of cold metal [[GrailInTheGarbage lying on the floor]] of the tunnel. It was a turning point in his career, but he did not know it. He put the ring in his pocket almost without thinking: "Certainly it did not seem of any particular use at the moment."''

* In the book ''Key to Rondo'', [[spoiler:Mimi's pendant and her lemon candy prove to be what the bad guys want, and the decoy]].
* As she leaves for a boat trip, Martine of ''Dolphin Song'' is given a plant by the old woman who's been teaching her about bush magic. Everyone teases her about it until it proves to be the cure (the only cure on hand) for Man o' War stings. The best part is, the woman told her later that she just wanted it out of her garden.

* Subverted most effectively in Creator/BrandonSanderson's ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}'' trilogy - [[spoiler: Vin's earring, her only memento of her mother which she has been wearing since the start of the first book, turns out to be the way the Big Bad has been influencing her all along.]]
* Subverted in Creator/{{Katherine MacLean}}'s ''Missing Man'', where a guru gives George (the protagonist) a quarter, saying "I can see into the future a little. In two weeks if you don't have a quarter you'll probably die," and "Tape it to your skin and forget you have it." In fact, the quarter does become (hypothetically) useful... except that [[spoiler:George, as instructed, forgets that he has it, and so never uses it]].

* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1'': Ford Prefect's penchant for towels. He insists to Arthur that they are useful in all kinds of situations.
** TheFilmOfTheBook shows Ford actually putting his towel to good use several times.
* Common in live-action adventure games from the ''Literature/DreamPark'' series. Kevin's gift of a soot-covered rag in ''The Barsoom Project'' is a good example.
* In ''Literature/NightWatchSeries'', Anton is savvy enough to know that any amulet [[TheArchmage Geser]] gives him will most likely be useful in the near future. Even a low-level Other is able to view his own probability lines. An old and powerful Great Other like Geser can do it a lot better. Why would you need an enchanted SIM card in Uzbekistan? Well, to block GPS tracking on your phone, of course, in case someone decides to cause an avalanche at your location. Why would battle mages like Anton and Alisher need rings that protect against fire, ice, poison, and vacuum when they can just use the Mage's Shield spell? Because those will happen to be the spells that their enemy will use, and the battle mages will have TheLoad to protect.
* ''Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain'' by A. Lee Martinez. Mollusk keeps finding superfluous components in cybernetically-controlled organisms sent by the Brain to destroy him. The unusual thing is, all the components are based on his designs. The components eventually assemble into a device that plugs into a machine that shuts down the Brain and his cohorts, as part of a BatmanGambit arranged by Mollusk's future self, who's being held prisoner by the Brain.
* The toolkit Rainbow Dash gets from the rest of the Mane Six for her quest to obtain the Half-Gilded Horseshoe in ''Literature/RainbowDashAndTheDaringDoDoubleDare''.
* Sara combines this trope with NoteToSelf in the ''Literature/{{Relativity}}'' story "Sinkhole" when she arranges for a comic book and a newspaper headline to be delivered to herself several weeks in the future.

* In ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'', Parzival travels to Planet Archaide, assuming it to be the location of the Jade Key. He plays a perfect game of ''Pac-Man'', winning a quarter that was previously stuck to the arcade machine's monitor. The quarter has no special powers and Parzival is unable to remove it from his inventory. [[spoiler: The quarter's power is revealed when [[BigBad Nolan Sorrento]] activates the Catalyst - a rare artifact that has the power to completely destroy every Avatar within a planet's radius, including the user - and wipes out all avatars during the Battle of Castle Anorak, only for Parzival to survive it due to the quarter giving him an extra life.]]
* ''Literature/TheMagicalMonarchOfMo'', Chapter 9 "The Wizard and the Princess". Princess Truella goes to the sorceress Maetta for help in retrieving her stolen big toe from the Wicked Wizard. The sorceress gives her a collection of items: a magical umbrella, a lump of putty, an iron ball, a mirror, a pack of chewing gum, a magical veil, and a winged dagger. All of these items turn out to be very useful to the Princess on her quest.
* The everyday items in ''Literature/{{Paycheck}}''. A plot setup involving the character collecting otherwise useless everyday items, {{justified|Trope}} in that the character knew exactly [[NoteToSelf what was going to happen]] in the future and when. It's revealed that the machine wasn't just a viewer, it allowed one to extend a mechanical grasping arm through time to obtain objects. The protagonist uses it to grab the final MacGuffin out of the villain's hand at the climax, then his future-self pulls it out of his pocket.
* ''Literature/NettleAndBone'': {{Justified|Trope}} with the tapestry [[spoiler:the [[FairyGodmother Godmother]]]] gives Marra. Her MagicallyBindingContract bars her from providing aid to an enemy of [[spoiler:the Northern Kingdom]], but because Marra is completely unaware (until much later) that the tapestry contains [[spoiler:a [[MapAllAlong secret map]]]], it [[LoopholeAbuse doesn't count]].

* In the first episode of ''Series/MythQuest'', Alex (as Theseus) is given a ball of string to help him navigate the labyrinth of the Minotaur.

* Subverted in a sketch on ''Saturday Night Fry'', when, on a mission to the Underworld to retrieve a deceased soul, Stephen insists that Hugh needs to bring a piano but won't explain why, saying only that they'll need it later. Halfway through, following an encounter with the river Lethe, no-one can remember what the piano is for and they leave it behind. We never find out any more.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Uninvited}}'', picking up a certain seemingly important gem results in being demonically possessed about three turns later. Whoops. This is played differently in the NES version of the game, where it instead possesses you after 64 turns- which still isn't enough to complete the game.

* "That thing your aunt gave you which you don't know what it is," from ''VideoGame/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1984'' the [[InteractiveFiction Text Adventure]] game. The thing in question is a ClingyMacGuffin which doubles as a BagOfHolding. You can't get rid of it permanently, no matter how hard you try, and you can store things in it as well. It's very useful, but these miraculous properties [[GuideDangIt are never hinted at in the game itself]] -- [[TrialAndErrorGameplay you have to discover them for yourself.]]
** Worse, the game can't be completed successfully if the player hasn't collected ''every single one'' of the small objects in the game, beginning with ransacking the room at the game's start. [[spoiler: The game's final challenge is to present a random one of those objects, but the game will always choose an object that the player hasn't collected if there are any.]]

* Every Creator/{{Infocom}} game includes at least one of these. The best is the piece of braided black string in ''VideoGame/{{Zork}} 2'', which seems completely useless at first, but turns out to be [[spoiler:the fuse necessary to make sure you can get away before the plastic explosive to blast open the locked box goes off, without which setting off the plastic explosive kills you automatically]].
* The two ''VideoGame/{{Discworld}}'' games, where there really are totally useless things to collect, albeit not many, making them more {{Red Herring}}s.
* There are items like this all over the place in ''Videogame/AloneInTheDark1992'', e.g. an Indian cover, a heavy statuette, and others whose use isn't quite obvious at the beginning.
* In ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'', both times while trying to get away from the [[PaletteSwap witches]], Lance picks up an eyeball hanging on a rack for no discernible reason whatsoever. At the end of the game, he gets the idea to tie the two eyeballs together like a bola in order to stop Fritz as he charges at him, but that still doesn't answer the question of why he picked up the eyeballs in the first place.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** The trend in the series, since at least the second game ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'', is that you will always get what you need to complete the next dungeon either in that dungeon or right before it. This can become JustForFun/{{egregious}} at some points; how lucky is it that you found that item right before flipping over blocks and pots from a short distance away became a vitality important ability? It's sometimes justified by the dungeons being carefully laid out trials, but just as often it isn't brought up. Did whoever designed the fire-temple in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' know that the switches would become rusted over, and that's why they left a hammer capable of pressing them for you to find or was it just a [[ContrivedCoincidence coincidence?]]
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'': "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this!" Sure is handy that some old geezer who is giving away the game's most essential item for free lives right where Link happened to begin his quest. Although the rest of the first game in the series is much less conveniently arranged.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' however, it seems that Link just decided to be smart after killing an enemy wielding a ball and chain and thought "hey, this could probably break all that ice I can't get past". Doesn't explain why no other enemy in the game wields a ball and chain.

* Subverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. After Quagmire has an affair with Cleveland's wife, Cleveland's swears revenge. Quagmire hires Mayor Adam West as a guard, but after failing to keep still, West decides to leave while giving Quagmire a banana and telling him "When the time comes, [[YouWillKnowWhatToDo you'll know what to do]]." Later, when Cleveland is chasing him, Quagmire throws the banana... and it does nothing. The scene is set up to {{invoke|dTrope}} the classic banana peel gag to viewers, but [[GenreBlind Quagmire forgot to peel the banana before throwing it]].

* Happens on ''Series/{{Tracker}}'' when Mel finds both her grandmother's diary and the strange triangular object. She finds it a bit odd but dismisses it and nails it up as a decoration, and it's only later that the writing on it is ID'd as Vardian and they learn that it's the key to the underground vault and that the diary's poetry was another key clue.

A character is handed (or idly picks up, or discovers in his possession) a seemingly useless item of junk. This can happen fairly early in the story -- in TheHerosJourney, it's one of the [[SupernaturalAid first steps]].

* That innocent little cookie that the Oracle offers to Neo in ''Film/TheMatrix'' might not have been so innocuous. If a piece of cake [[TheImmodestOrgasm causes great excitement in a young woman in the Merovingian's club in ''The Matrix Reloaded'']], then the Oracle can bake a little programming for Neo into her own batch. [[FridgeBrilliance What are cookies known for in computer jargon, huh?]]

* In Creator/JimButcher's ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' novel ''[[Literature/SpiderManTheDarkestHours The Darkest Hours]]'', Spider-Man asked ComicBook/DoctorStrange for his assistance in dealing with the Ancients, three malevolent beings related to Morlun (from the Creator/JMichaelStraczynski run). Strange refused, stating that doing so would undo the [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil cosmic balance]]. He did arrange for his manservant Wong to prepare Spider-Man a sack lunch... which contained, along with a ham sandwich, three small stones which could be used to transport someone to an uninhabited dimension. After Spider-Man defeated the Ancients, Strange asked Wong what had happened to the stones, [[IWasNeverHere pretending not to know anything about their use]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}''

** The trend in the series, since at least the second game ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'', is that you will always get what you need to complete the next dungeon either in that dungeon or right before it. This can become JustForFun/{{egregious}} at some points, like the trope picture. How lucky is it that you found that item right before flipping over blocks and pots from a short distance away became a vitality important ability? It's sometimes justified by the dungeons being carefully laid out trials, but just as often it isn't brought up. Did whoever designed the fire-temple in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' know that the switches would become rusted over, and that's why they left a hammer capable of pressing them for you to find or was it just a [[ContrivedCoincidence coincidence?]]

* From the ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' example, a StupidStatementDanceMix:
-->'''Jack:''' I've got a jar of dirt!

** The only item that's never used is the hubcap....and you can not pick it up.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4dd408bc_0807_4d43_84a0_a06f3309196f.jpeg]]]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4dd408bc_0807_4d43_84a0_a06f3309196f.jpeg]]

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[[quoteright:240:[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cane_of_pacci.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:240:[-[[YouHaveResearchedBreathing What, you mean I can't do that with my hands?]]-]]]

* Common in live-action adventure games from the ''Literature/DreamPark'' series. Kevin's gift of a soot-covered rag in ''Literature/TheBarsoomProject'' is a good example.

* Subverted in a sketch on ''Saturday Night Fry'', when, on a mission to the Underworld to retrieve a deceased soul, Stephen insists that Hugh needs to bring a piano but won't explain why, saying only that they'll need it later. Halfway through, following an encounter with the river Lethe, no-one can remember what the piano is for and they leave it behind.

* ''Literature/NettleAndBone'': {{Justified|Trope}} with the tapestry [[spoiler:the [[FairyGodmother Godmother]]]] gives Marra. Her MagicallyBindingContract bars her from providing aid to an enemy of [[spoiler:the Northern Kingdom]], but because Marra is completely unaware (until much later) that the tapestry contains [[spoiler:a secret map]], it [[LoopholeAbuse doesn't count]].

** [[spoiler:Conis]]: The [[spoiler:Reject]] Dial she got from [[spoiler:Wiper]].