History Main / SelfDestructingSecurity

** ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'': Bond's car has an anti-theft measure which blows it up if it's broken into. Considering all the high tech gear in every car Bond drives, you'd think it'd be more to protect those things than the car itself.

* ''DeathNote'': Light goes to great lengths to protect the DeathNote. Not only is it hidden in his locked bedroom in a secret panel of his desk drawer, but opening the panel without first deactivating the failsafe will incinerate the notebook before it can be found. After all, if someone else takes it he's unlikely to get it back, and it links him to hundreds of murders.

* The Holy Grail in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' is protected by many layers of secrets, guards and traps. The final resort, however, is that the Grail can never pass beyond
"The Great Seal". Doing so results in the entire place self destructing and the Grail being lost forever.

* The Holy Grail in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' is protected by many layers of secrets, guards and traps. The final resort, however, is that the Grail can never pass beyond "The Great Seal". Doing so results in the entire place self destructing and the Grail being lost forever.

* WW2 Uboat codebooks were printed on paper that would dissolve in water. Not only did this make the codebook easy to destroy, even if the crew were killed before they could, an attack on the sub would be very likely to cause the codebooks destruction anyway.

** In early editions the Explosive Runes spell could be used like this. The caster would cast the spell on the object to be protected. If anyone read the runes, they would explode and destroy the object.

* ''{{Shadowrun}}''. The Scramble IC program is often used to protect computer datastores with valuable information. If a decker tries to break through the Scramble and fails, it will overwrite the stored information with random characters, rendering it worthless.

* ''TheDarkIsRising'' series novel ''The Dark is Rising''. The Book of Gramarye is kept in a grandfather clock with a special security mechanism. If the Book touches the clock's pendulum, it (and the clock) are totally destroyed. The same thing will occur if an Old One tries to remove the book and they're not touching a specific human being.

This is typically used to protect information rather than unique objects, as its easier to have a backup copy so that the loss of any single copy doesn't mean its lost forever. However it can also be found used with unique items that would be dangerous in the wrong hands, under the logic that its better for no-one to have it than the wrong people.

But while you can't make it impossible for thieves to get in, you can make it impossible to get anything out intact if they don't use the proper access method. So long as its more important that the contents stay out of the wrong hands than in one piece, you setup a failsafe that will destroy the contents before an attempted break in can be completed. The technique also has the advantage of not requiring any staff to check on the security regularly, and so is good for security that will be unattended for long periods.

* The Holy Grail in ''IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' is protected by many layers of secrets, guards and traps. The final resort, however, is that the Grail can never pass beyond "The Great Seal". Doing so results in the entire place self destructing and the Grail being lost forever.

* JamesBond

** ''ForYourEyesOnly'': Bond's car has an anti-theft measure which blows it up if it's broken into. Considering all the high tech gear in every car Bond drives, you'd think it'd be more to protect those things than the car itself.

* ''StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "The Slaver Weapon". The title device had an {{AI}} computer programmed to make sure its user was a Slaver authorized to use it. When the Kzinti that found it asked ignorant questions of it, it assumed that it had captured by its master's enemies and tricked them into activating a self-destruct setting which destroyed it...and them.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

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** Module [=DA1=] ''Adventures in Blackmoor''. All of the Iron Duke's agents in the Comeback Inn (as well as the Warden in the Prison Out Of Time) have a special Geas placed on them. If anyone tries to read their minds to find out what happened to King Uther they will die.

See also BoobyTrap, which the intent is to destroy the thief more than the loot.

*** Senshock, one of Iuz's minions, knows some of his master's secrets. If anyone (such as a group of {{PC}}s) uses Charm or any other MindControl effect to make him reveal these secrets, Senshock will suddenly and mysteriously die, slain by luz himself.

** Played with in the adventure T1-4 ''The Temple of Elemental Evil''. In one room there's a chest with a chlorine gas trap that functions no matter how the {{PC}}s try to disarm it. When they open the chest they find what appears to be spell books and a magical scroll that have been partially dissolved by the gas. In fact they were covered with gibberish and therefore worthless - it was just a trick to make the {{PC}}s think they had lost a chance to gain valuable items.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* U.S. top-secret documents are carried in briefcases that are booby-trapped with oxidizer bricks, which incinerate the documents if the case is opened without the disarm key inserted.
* WW2 Uboat codebooks were printed on paper that would dissolve in water. Not only did this make the codebook easy to destroy, even if the crew were killed before they could, an attack on the sub would be very likely to cause the codebooks destruction anyway.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime]]

** ''{{Goldfinger}}'': As a shout out, its implied that Bonds case still has similar defensive measures in the following film, even though they're never explicitly mentioned. After being captured, he talks to one of Goldfinger's henchwomen on the plane.

* ''DungeonsAndDragons'' module [=CM1=] ''Test of the Warlords'', Encounter 1 "The Ruins of Alinor". The {{PC}}s can find a golden box that radiates magic. If they smash or pry open the box, its contents burn up in a flash. If it is unlocked normally or its lock is picked by a thief, they will find two magical scrolls and a diary.

* In ''TheDaVinciCode'', the cryptex protects its contents with a combination lock. Attempting to force the cryptex open will break the vial of vinegar inside, which would dissolve the papyrus along with its message before it could be read. As a result, only the right password will grand access to the message.