| rdfs:comment | - Here at All The Tropes, we don't advocate violence... we're just saying it works and we highly suggest using it! The hero has only a limited amount of time to do something, be it rescue, transport, repair, or simply Outrun the Fireball, but has a problem. Namely, a very complicated problem that would need time to solve, time the hero definitely doesn't have. After trying (or not trying) in vain to solve the problem the technical way, the hero just shrugs it and Takes A Third Option, namely, by getting rid of the problem altogether, often through violence. When the smart character is trying to get a way around it and the dumb character resorts to violence, the dumb character is often Too Dumb to Fool. When the Leader tramples over objections to prevent Divided We Fall, this often comes into
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| abstract | - Here at All The Tropes, we don't advocate violence... we're just saying it works and we highly suggest using it! The hero has only a limited amount of time to do something, be it rescue, transport, repair, or simply Outrun the Fireball, but has a problem. Namely, a very complicated problem that would need time to solve, time the hero definitely doesn't have. After trying (or not trying) in vain to solve the problem the technical way, the hero just shrugs it and Takes A Third Option, namely, by getting rid of the problem altogether, often through violence. When the smart character is trying to get a way around it and the dumb character resorts to violence, the dumb character is often Too Dumb to Fool. When the Leader tramples over objections to prevent Divided We Fall, this often comes into play. Often parodied, most often where the hero tries to destroy the problem, only to succeed in destroying everything but the problem. Compare: Take a Third Option; Indy Ploy; Dungeon Bypass; Steal the Surroundings; Open Says Me; Debate and Switch (if this is done to a moral rather than physical problem); Impossible Task (what this trope is often the only solution to), and There Was a Door. Heroes who make a habit of doing this may boast that We Do the Impossible. Examples of Cutting the Knot include:
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