History Main / PlotCouponThatDoesSomething

* JadeEmpire has the Spirit Monk amulet as a PlotCoupon. As you collect more pieces, you are able to utilize gems that enhance your abilities. [[spoiler: By the time Sun Li steals it from you, it turns out to be a MagicFeather - you're now powerful enough to use the gems without the amulet]].

* In GuildWars factions, a few of the missions are spent collecting some powerful artifacts (Urn of St. Viktor, Spear of Archemorus) to cefeat the BigBad. The articfacts also provide some useful combat effects (Damage absorption, and powerful damage, respectively).
* In StarcraftII, you spend about half the missions gathering peices of a [[ThePrecursors Xel'naga]] artifact. In the final mission, the artifact is assembled, and requires you to defend it while it charges up to [[spoiler:cure Kerrigan]]. In the meantime, you can use it every three and a half minutes to fry every Zerg in a half-mile radius. Once it finally charges up to do that thing in the spoiler tags, it fries all the zerg again, just for kicks.
* In {{Morrowind}}, the player must find the items Wraithguard, Sunder and Keening (known as Kagrenac's Tools) in order to complete the main plot. Each of these items, in addition to being plot-essential, conveys a selection of Fortify/Resist/Shield effects.

* The Soul Cube in {{Doom}} 3 and the Artifact in {{Doom}} 3 Resurrection of Evil are integral to the plot of both games. They are also ''very'' useful in gameplay. The Soul Cube [[OneHitKill instantly kills]] any non-boss enemy and transfers all of its LifeEnergy to the player, healing him/her. The Artifact, once fully upgraded, can [[BulletTime slow down time]], [[QuadDamage increase the power of your weapons]], and [[SuperStar make the player temporarily invulnerable]].

* The titular [=ARMs=] in the ''WildArms'' series inevitably have something to do with the story, and the fact that one of the main characters can use them (or use particular ones, or in a particular way).

* The Horadric Cube in {{Diablo}} II is needed to transmute several pieces of useless crap into a larger piece of useless crap just so you can get to the bosses of Acts II and III. However, you can continue to use it to transmute {{Vendor Trash}} into better items that are both more useful and more valuable. It also doubles as a mini-BagOfHolding, taking up 2x2 space in inventory while having a 3x4 space for items.

* In Golden Sun: The Lost Age for the GBA the heroes need to gather the pieces of a trident in order to harm Poseidon, but the trident can be used in any battle to do damage to a selected enemy.
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* In ''DragonQuestVIII'', everyone in Castle Trodain has a curse cast upon them...except for the hero, who is, for some unknown reason, immune to it. There is a "Curse" status ailment in the game, which temporarily disables whoever it's inflicted upon. The hero is immune to this particular ailment.

* In ''PaperMario'', and ''PaperMario: The Thousand Year Door'', your Star Powers are tied directly to the {{Plot Coupon}}s - Star Spirits or Crystal Stars, respectively. When you collect a PlotCoupon, you receive one additional unit in your Star Power meter, and learn a new ability.
** In ''SuperPaperMario'', collecting a Pure Heart doesn't give you any extra abilities in gameplay, it just opens a door to the world where you can find the next one. However, at the end, the whole set is needed to give the main characters the EleventhHourSuperpower required to defeat the FinalBoss and save the multiverse.

* The first ''BreathOfFire'' game features an item called the [=EKey=], which you get early and is one of seven {{CosmicKeystone}}s keeping the power of Tyr at bay. The EKey is also fairly unique in that you can use it repeatedly during battle to create an earthquake that [[AreaOfEffect harms all enemies for 30 damage]], useful since your StaffChick, really TheMedic, has little offensive capabilities at that early point in the game.

* The Soul Cube in {{Doom}} 3 and the Artifact in {{Doom}} 3 Resurrection of Evil are integral to the plot of both games. They are also ''very'' useful in gameplay. The Soul Cube [[OneHitKill instantly kills]] any non-boss enemy and transfers all of its life force to the player. The Artifact, once fully upgraded, can [[BulletTime slow down time]], [[QuadDamage increase the power of your weapons]], and [[SuperStar make you temporarily invulnerable]].

* The Soul Cube in {{Doom}} 3 and the Artifact in {{Doom}} 3 Resurrection of Evil are integral to the plot of both games. They are also ''very'' useful in gameplay. The Soul Cube [[OneHitKill instantly kills]] any non-boss enemy and transfers all of its life force to the player. The Artifact, once fully upgraded, can [[BulletTime slow down time]], [[QuadDamage increase the power of your weapons]], and [[SuperStar make you temporarily invulnerable]]. ----

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* The DismantledMagGuffin in ''Nox'' actually converges into a fearsomely deadly weapon as you collect more pieces.

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* In {{Morrowind}}, the player must find the items Wraithguard, Sunder and Keening (known as Kagrenac's Tools) in order to complete the main plot. Each of these items, in addition to being plot-essential, conveys a selection of Fortify/Resist/Shield effects.

** {{Geneforge}} [[OlderThanTheyThink did this earlier]], with the twist that the "canisters" you're using as [[HeartContainer Heart Containers]] and [[UpgradeArtifact Upgrade Artifacts]] affect you as well as the NPCs you're fighting. [[ParabolicPowerCurve Too many]], and you start picking fights and talking like a psychopath. Way too many, and you may get a {{Downer Ending}}. And heaven help you if [[spoiler:you use the Geneforge]]...

* In ''MegaManBattleNetwork 6'', [[spoiler:Wily]]'s XanatosGambit is for the purpose of extracting a SealedEvilInACan Cyber Beast from MegaMan. Said Beast is basically MegaMan's SuperMode.