History Main / OneTrueSequence

* ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' plays this ridiculously straight -- every time a new Shen Gong Wu becomes active, the good guys and the bad guys will reach it simultaneously and even ''touch it at the same time'', forcing an epic battle. Every. Single. Time.

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* In the ''VideoGame/SakuraWars'' [[Anime/SakuraWarsTV TV series]], five mystic stones, scattered and hidden through the capital city, act as seals on an ancient and powerful demon. If even one remains, the demon cannot be released. [[YouCantThwartStageOne Naturally,]] the bad guys are locating and destroying them, and the good guys can never find any but the next one the bad guys are about to attack.

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* Played unapologetically straight in nearly every ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' movie, where either the villains reach a MacGuffin first but can't attain it, allowing Jones to figure it out behind their backs; or with Jones arriving first with the villains chasing close behind, and then waiting at the dungeon entrance to steal the prize.

* This is subverted at the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove''. After a short chase scene Kuzco and Pacha loose the villains and arrive safely at the lab. They then discover that the bad guys are already there to begin with. When Kuzco asks how they managed to beat them to the lab, the villains examine a map of the prior chase scene before conceding that it "makes no sense" and shrugging it off.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' when you reach Vault 13 to find [[spoiler:The Enclave had already shown up and cleared out the population and a G.E.C.K.]] However, they overlooked one G.E.C.K. which you can take to your tribe...
* Justified in ''VideoGame/{{Nostalgia}}'', since the Cabal can't take the tablets without Fiona.

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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}},'' when the ninja are trying to stop the Serpentine from getting the four fang blades to revive the Great Devourer, they run into the Serpentine every time they locate one. The ninja actually got the location of the fourth one from a Serpentine informant, but decided it was too far away and it would be a better plan to raid the Serpentine's stronghold to steal the other three while most of their forces were away (in a reverse-MacguffinDeliveryService), but it turned out the Serpentine already had the fourth blade.

* This is subverted at the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove''. After a short chase scene Kuzco and Pacha loose the villains and arrive safely at the lab. They then discover that the bad guys are already there to begin with. When Kuzco asks how they managed to beat them to the lab the villains examine a map of the prior chase scene before conceding that it "makes no sense" and shrugging it off.

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* In ''[[OnceAnEpisode every single episode]]'' of ''Series/RelicHunter'', the bad guys would appear right behind the good guys just as they've discovered the relic of the week.

* Subversion: After the first 5 or so "Jewel Seeds" are individually fought over in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', both the heroes and villains focus on getting the closest ones that the other isn't pursuing. The plot jumps ahead to after each side has collected all the ones available.

* Exception: In the ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' movie "Bonds of Fire", there are multiple shrines that contain the energy needed to restore the flooded Spirit World. Rather than go to one after another, both sides split up and go to all of them simultaneously. This is probably because they didn't have time for a series of protracted battles, since it's a movie.

* Subversion: In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', Bowser often reaches the locations of the Crystal Stars one chapter behind the heroes.
** ''PM: TTYD'' also has a variation on the "Let the heroes collect the treasures and then steal from them" path, which also ties into the villains having one of the treasures all along. Once Mario has collected 6 of the 7 treasures (the seventh being in the possession of the BigBad and all 7 being needed to open the titular door), the Big Bad leaves one of his more powerful minions at his base with the last treasure, with the thought [[XanatosGambit "If he manages to beat Mario, then I win outright. While if Mario beats him, Mario will just open the door for me".]]

* ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'' doesn't subvert this, but contains enough DramaticIrony to make Bowser think it did. From his perspective, the Mario brothers found the first Star Cure while he was dealing with a Boo researcher and his tower, and he beat them to the second Cure by a mile. In truth, [[spoiler:the Brothers needed the researcher's invention to get the first Cure from [[ChekhovsGun a character he swallowed much earlier]], and they helped him get the second one.]]

A common trope in videogames, where, even though the bad guys seem to be everywhere at once, and even though the player can [[TakeYourTime Take His Time]], they'll always close in on a particular [=MacGuffin=] just as you do. A common video game variant is discovering the bad guys have had the final [=MacGuffin=] in their possession the whole time, forcing you to storm their stronghold and have a [[BossBattle climactic battle]] against their leader. Another has the villains trading a [[HostageForMcGuffin convenient hostage for the items the heroes collected]] and then storming their castle. Yet another reveals that the villains were just [[MacguffinDeliveryService letting the heroes collect the treasures so they could steal them later]].

* Justified in ''{{Nostalgia}}'', since the Cabal can't take the tablets without Fiona.

** ''PM: TTYD'' also has a variation on the "Let the heroes collect the treasures and then steal from them" path, which also ties into the villains having one of the treasures all along. Once Mario has collected 6 of the 7 treasures (the seventh being in the possession of the BigBad and all 7 being needed to open the title door), the Big Bad leaves one of his more powerful minions at his base with the last treasure, with the thought [[XanatosGambit "If he manages to beat Mario, all the better to him. When Mario beats him, Mario will just open the door for me".]]

* This is subverted at the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperor'sNewGroove'' when, after a short chase scene Kuzco and Pacha loose the bad guys and arrive safely at the lab only to discover that the bad guys are already there to begin with. When Kuzco asks how they managed to beat them to the lab the villains examine a map of the chase scene before conceding that it "makes no sense" and shrugging it off.

* Averted in ''Manga/DragonBall'', where Prince Pilaf and the heroes didn't meet until the heroes had 6 Dragon Balls and Pilaf had just 1.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' when you reach Vault 13 to find [[spoiler: The Enclave had already shown up and cleared out the population and a G.E.C.K.]] However, they overlooked one G.E.C.K. which you can take to your tribe...

* Averted in some instances in ''{{Drakengard}}''. While trying to defend the Desert Seal, if you have Arioch, she tells you at a certain point that the Island Seal has already fallen. Similarly, if you have Leonard and are trying to defend the Forest Seal, he tells you the Desert Seal is already gone.

** The show [[JustifiedTrope justifies]] it with the nature of the {{MacGuffin}}s; they reveal themselves individually, showing up on both teams' scanners simultaneously, and both race to the location as fast as possible. They end up ''expecting'' the trope pretty quickly.
*** Possibly averted (albeit off-screen) when some Wu show up without us seeing their collection as well Wu changing hands between episodes on occasion. We only see the more dramatic Wu fights.
*** Definitely averted in the "Sands Of Time" episode. Jack brings his future self back in time, and his future self knows the exact location of every Shen Gong Wu, so the bad guys have a serious advantage for a while.

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* ''PrisonBreak'' season 2 is basically 22 episodes of this trope. Mahone tracked down Michael by reading the Cliffs Note version of the plot tattooed on the latter's body and despite the tattoos not being in any particular order, Mahone always managed to figure out each development at the exact time Michael was enacting it.

* Subversion: After the first 5 or so "Jewel Seeds" are individually fought over in ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', both the heroes and villains focus on getting the closest ones that the other isn't pursuing. The plot jumps ahead to after each side has collected all the ones available.

* In the ''SakuraTaisen'' TV series, five mystic stones, scattered and hidden through the capital city, act as seals on an ancient and powerful demon. If even one remains, the demon cannot be released. [[YouCantThwartStageOne Naturally,]] the bad guys are locating and destroying them, and the good guys can never find any but the next one the bad guys are about to attack.

* Done in the first ''GIJoe'' FiveEpisodePilot: "A Real American Hero", where the Joes and Cobra were after the rare elements needed to power the Mass Device.

* The hunt for Innocence in filler episodes in ''[[DGrayMan D.Gray-Man]]'''s anime. Whenever they find a fragment of innocence, the Akuma have found it too and are after it. Cue epic battle! Often justified by showing that the bad guys were there first but were too inept to break through the barriers, solve the puzzle or resist the protective magic to the [=MacGuffin=], and are just bashing away at those obstacles in the hope of getting through. Only the heroes have the resourcefulness to actually get through, so they always get it. Then the bad guys attack the heroes to try and get it, now that the barriers are gone.
* Averted in Part II of ''{{Naruto}}'': with the exception of Shukaku and the Nine-Tailed Fox (both of whom were/are sealed in major characters), the antagonistic Akatsuki has been able to collect most of the Tailed Beasts with almost no opposition from the protagonists whatsoever.

* Averted in ''NeverwinterNights: Hordes of the Underdark'' in Shaori's Fell, where Sabal goes after the mirror pieces in a specific order, and even if you try to go ahead of her she ends up with at least one.

* In the ''SakuraTaisen'' TV series, five mystic stones, scattered and hidden through the capital city, act as seals on an ancient and powerful demon. If even one remains, the demon cannot be released. Naturally, the bad guys are locating and destroying them, and the good guys can never find any but the next one the bad guys are about to attack.

* In ''Manga/SailorMoon S'', the Outer Senshi (good guys, although not initially in the same team as the main character) and the Death Busters (bad guys) are simultaneously searching for three talismans supposedly hidden inside unknown humans. In every episode, both sides arrive at the same time to examine the next VictimOfTheWeek. It is hinted, however, that the good guys cannot extract the talismans themselves, and must thus rely on the bad guys to do the dirty work for them.