History Main / ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest

* 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.

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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]].