It Only Works Once/Playing With

Basic Trope: That thing only works once.
 * Straight: The evil plan works for the first time only.
 * Exaggerated: Everything work for once only. If you reuse them, they explode.
 * Downplayed: Retrying the plan only provides a small disadvantage, it won't fail instantly.
 * Justified: The ingredients involved in the evil plan can be obtained once only, so you only have one shot.
 * Or you're exploiting something that'll be easily patched after you try to do it.
 * Inverted: The evil plan always fails for the first time. After that, it always succeeds.
 * Subverted: After the first time, someone tries the evil plan again, and seems to have a success...
 * Double Subverted: ...only to find out it doesn't.
 * Parodied: If you even try to mention to reuse an evil plan, you'll suddenly disappear in a Puff of Logic.
 * Or it turns out the Hero has recorded every single evil plans used by the villian, and that's why it only works once.
 * Deconstructed: The villian never executes his evil plans again, since he's afraid that they fail at the first time, and become useless after on. They uses their lifetime to improve their "perfect" plans to become more perfect.
 * Reconstructed: Instead, the villian just do modifications to the old plans, and propose them as new plans.
 * Zig Zagged: Ten villians are reusing a single evil plan. Some succeed, some don't.
 * It only works when you are using it for an odd number of time. Or every number of time ended with an 1.
 * Averted: It always fails. Or it always succeeds.
 * Enforced: "Audience will feel boring if we keep using the same trick all the time... So we must invent new plot for every episode."
 * Lampshaded: "Can't you just reuse your old plans again? Some of them're already 20 years old - nobody will remember that's ever been used!"
 * Invoked: "We don't need anti-air defence anymore, the villian just sent one airborne wave to us. He won't do this again."
 * Exploited: "Teammates! Don't prepare for everything the villian's done; he won't do them anymore!"
 * Defied: "This time I'm going to reuse my old evil plan! SURPRISE!"
 * Discussed: "I wonder if these plans only work once. It would be a waste to dispose them."
 * Conversed: "In that show the villian just won't use the same plan again... Maybe since it only work once."

Now be quick and go back to the main page, this link only works once!