Line #46 Main/PercussiveShutdown


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7
8	->''"If in doubt, break it."''
9	-->-- '''Adam Jensen''', ''Literature/DeusExBlackLight''
10
11	When all else fails, sometimes the easiest way to turn off a thing that needs to be turned off is to break it.
12
13	Characters occasionally come across situations where a device in their vicinity that is integral to the plot; more specifically, integral to ''derailing'' the plot, and it has to be prevented from doing so. But such devices rarely come with an "off" switch, so what are the intrepid heroes to do?
14
15	[[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption Why, smash it to bits, of course!]] When there is simply no better option available, you might as well.
16
17	Not that this isn't a viable option--even outside of fiction, damaging something to the point of nonfunctionality is technically an effective way to turn something "off", in a manner of speaking. Of course, this isn't advised if you intend on using it again, so perhaps it is best not to ''immediately'' resort to bashing the bejeezus out of things that need to be deactivated.
18
19	Compare PercussivePrevention when this tactic is applied to a character rather than an object. Contrast PercussiveMaintenance, which is using violence to [[CounterTrope get stuff working again]]. Can overlap with PercussiveTherapy if the continued failure to deactivate the [[ItWontTurnOff stubbornly functioning device]] becomes [[WhyWontYouDie a source of frustration]] for the character. Supertrope to ShootTheTelevision and RingRingCRUNCH. Compare CutTheJuice for a more conventional shutdown procedure.
20
21	----
22	!!Examples:
23
24	[[foldercontrol]]
25
26	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
27	* ''Anime/ACertainScientificRailgun'' employs this in episode 24. After trying and failing to properly shut down the Capacity Down machine that was keeping her Esper friends from being able to even move, Saten switches plans and smashes it to pieces with her baseball bat.
28	* ''Manga/FairyTail'' seems to love this trope.
29	** The conclusion to the [[Recap/FairyTailOracionSeisArc Nirvana Arc]] involved multiple simultaneous instances of destroying the lacrimas powering [[SpiderTank Nirvana's]] legs.
30	** Hades' defeat during the [[Recap/FairyTailTenrouIslandArc Tenrou Island Arc]] ultimately comes about from Happy and Carla breaking his [[SoulJar power source]].
31	** In order to prevent [[Recap/FairyTailGrandMagicGamesArc the destruction of Fiore by rampaging dragons]], Lucy resolves to destroy the Eclipse gate, [[TimeyWimeyBall erasing its existence in the future and thereby preventing Future Rogue from coming back from seven years in the future and opening the gate in the present]].
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Fan Works]]
35	* ''Webcomic/SwitcherooAU'': In "Jailbreak", Spinel's method of getting Peridot's ship to turn around is by stomping on the control panel.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
39	* ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'': The emotions Anger, Disgust, and Fear have realized that giving Riley the idea to run away was a mistake, and are trying desperately to correct the mistake by removing the idea bulb. But it proves to be unmovable. So they try smashing it. [[SubvertedTrope But it also proves unbreakable]].
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
43	* {{Subverted}} in ''Film/{{The Avengers\|2012}}''. When Tony first encounters the portal generator, the first thing he tries is blasting it with his repulsors. This does absolutely no damage to the device; it does however create a shockwave that knocks Selvig back to his senses, giving Selvig an opportunity to explain how the generator can be de-activated.
44	* In ''Film/SingStreet'', the evil school's principal wants to finish a dance at the gym by turning the lights back on. The former school bully prevents this by smashing the light switch, making it impossible to do so. Everyone cheers and the dance continues.
45	* In ''Film/{{Star Trek\|2009}}'', this gets double-subverted -- the heroes were planning to sabotage the giant laser drill with explosive charges, but made the mistake of letting the RedShirt carry them. For a moment it looks like they'll have to use their brains... until Kirk grabs a couple of guns dropped by mooks who don't need them anymore and Kirk and Sulu simply open up on the drill at point-blank range. It gets lampshaded in the novelization.
46	-->'''Kirk:''' I found the off switch!
47	* Inverted in ''Film/WeirdScience''. When Gary attempts to shut down his MagicalComputer with a [[BatterUp baseball bat]] after it connects with a government mainframe [[LightningCanDoAnything during a lightning strike]], the bat breaks instead of the machine.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Literature]]
51	* In ''[[Literature/VorkosiganSaga Shards of Honor]]'', Aral and the crew members loyal to him are shut in a small room with a loudspeaker blaring out mutineer propaganda, so he tells Bothari to silence it. Bothari does this by shooting the loudspeaker with a plasma rifle. Looking at the melted remains, Aral points out that they might have wanted to be able to use the communicator themselves.
52	* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Literature/GoingPostal'', the Mail Sorting Engine (which, due to its creator being infamous for making AchievementsInIgnorance, had a central flywheel with Pi being exactly 3 instead of 3-and-a-bit), is a RealityBreakingParadox which continues spitting out letters from alternate universes even after being turned off. [[spoiler:Until a Post Office employee grabs a crowbar and begins beating the machine with it until it finally stops spitting out letters.]]
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
56	* ''Series/BabylonFive'': Na'toth's rescue of G'kar from an assassination attempt combines this with PercussiveTherapy. She comes across G'kar helplessly [[RestrainingBolt restrained by]] "[[AgonyBeam pain-givers]]'' from dispatching the assassin on his own. After convincing the assassin she's been sent as back-up, she starts beating up G'kar. Moments later, G'kar is able to knock out the assassin unobstructed, where before the attempt would have killed him. Then he and Na'toth share words.
57	-->'''G'Kar:''' That hurt.\
58	'''Na'Toth:''' Ambassador, it was the only way to disable the pain-givers. I had to hit them as ''hard'' as possible, as ''often'' as possible and still make it appear as though I were beating you into another incarnation.\
59	'''G'Kar:''' And you didn't [[PercussiveTherapy enjoy it in the least?]]\
60	'''Na'Toth:''' I didn't say that.
61	* ''Series/TheBionicWoman'' episode "Doomsday Is Tomorrow". With the doomsday device's countdown running out, Jaime tries to stop the explosion by destroying the circuits of the [[AIIsACrapshoot ALEX 7000 computer]] that's controlling the countdown.
62	* ''Series/{{Castle\|2009}}'': During a particularly tense two-parter episode, Castle and Beckett have been chasing a group of domestic terrorists attempting to set off a dirty bomb in town. Eventually, they do find the bomb, but with only seconds left on the timer.... With no time to pick a wire to cut, Castle just yanks all of them at once... this works.
63	* Attempted at least twice in ''Series/{{Eureka}}'' by Jack.
64	** In the episode "H.O.U.S.E. Rules" he takes his prized signed baseball bat to the nuclear generator that powers the smarthouse when it threatens to vaporize Zoe with a laser. He doesn't so much as crack the generator's housing.
65	** Later in the Season 4 finale he nearly shoots the FTL Ion Reactor that's about to send The Astraeis (with unplanned passenger Allison on board) to an unknown location, he then "thinks better" and instead beats it with a pipe. It manages to shut down the batteries but too late to stop the launch. (Moral of the story: Jack doesn't like it when technology threatens his loved ones.)
66	* ''Series/MrBean'' once opted to turn off a light by shooting it, in order to forego the effort of getting out of bed to do so manually.
67	* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'': On both occasions where resurrection gauntlets are used to bring characters back to life, they end up going out of control and sucking the life out of hosts with no way of being turned off. So Jack just shoots them.
68	* Happens on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' "Kill Screen", when Team Gibbs has to shut down a supercomputer that can breach the [=DoD=]'s firewalls and erase all of their data, and [[RaceAgainstTheClock it has a timer counting down to when the breach will be complete]]. [=McGee=]'s computer skills aren't fast enough to shut it down electronically in time, and cutting the power source does nothing to stop it, so Gibbs [[CuttingTheKnot pulls out his gun and puts a few bullets inside the computer to kill it]].
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Video Games]]
72	* In ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'', Rosa Cosette d'Elise shuts down a freaking ''space elevator'' (the [=ISEV=], to be exact) by smashing up a set of transmitters on the top of its windbreak, also disabling the [[ForceField Active Protection System]] of Arsenal Bird ''Justice'' in the process.
73	* In ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'', a sidequest ends with Aloy finding a lure that a merchant had brought into a city, causing Glinthawks to attack. When the merchant stammers that he doesn't know how to shut it off, Aloy gives him a contemptuous look before stabbing it with her spear.
74	* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', if [[TheBigGuy Vega]] is assigned to shut down any technical equipment, his method consists of "fiddling with the wires" before kicking it until it stops working.
75	* In ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' ''2'', the Karma Society attempts to stop the protagonists' progress by breaking the control consoles for their electronically locking doors. Unfortunately for them, Roland's ShockAndAwe powers allow him to use those consoles anyways.
76	* When ''VideoGame/MrShifty'' has to shut something down, this is how he does it.
77	* In ''VideoGame/MegamanLegends'' after Megaman Volnutt gets electrocuted and restrained by a trap from Megaman Juno, [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Teisel and Tron]] come in and decide to help Megaman out of the trap.
78	-->'''Teisel:''' ''[looks at one of the pylons]'' Hey Tron! How do you turn this thing off?!\
79	'''Tron:''' Oh? This? Like this! ''[gives it a hard kick]''
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Web Comics]]
83	* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', Agatha deals with the "Lion", a device designed to permanently shut off her sentient castle, by smashing a large portion on top with a crowbar. She later revives the Lion by modifying the remains a bit when the castle's broken condition means it is trying to prevent her from getting treatment for a fatal illness in its attempt to keep her alive as she "just broke the big flashy bits".
84	[[/folder]]
85
86	[[folder:Western Animation]]
87	* ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'': After Sendak takes the castle and captures Lance and Shiro, Allura and Keith are stuck outside after the particle barrier is activated, leaving Pidge the only Paladin still at large on the inside. Allura directs Pidge to the castle's star drive chamber, in order to shut it down and prevent Sendak from getting away with the castle, and also the Lions. Unfortunately, the drive activates before Allura can go through the proper shutdown sequence, disrupting communications. With no other options, Pidge just says "whatever" and smashes the controls with her bayard, preventing the launch.
88	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PercussiveShutdown