Closed Circle: Difference between revisions

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The term Closed Circle is used to describe a situation where a group of people are completely isolated from the world. Since they can't leave, they are essentially inside a closed circle.

 

{{examples}}

* The Island mystery in ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'', [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] [[Genre Savvy|of course]]. Itsuki even uses what might be the common name for describing it: a Closed Circle. Ultimately, {{spoiler|it turns out to have been an invoked trope.}}

** In the novels they later get in a similar situation while going on a ski resort. {{spoiler|Turns out this one isn't intentionally done, and it took practically all of Nagato's powers and some basic knowledge in graph theory for them to escape.}}

* ''[[Liar Game]]'' frequently invokes this trope by setting its various challenges in secluded locations. Rarely are the players physically prohibited from leaving, but only winners can truly "escape" by paying half their winnings to the tournament committee; the rest end up in crushing debt.

* If you are chosen by the titular ''[[Gantz]]'', try to exit a set area before the time limit and [[Your Head Asplode]]. Everybody else is free to move through the area as they please, but the scenario is always set so they can affect nothing.

 

== Comic Books ==

* The protagonists of ''[[Elks Run]]'' happen to ''live'' in their Closed Circle. Their town was built to be isolated from the rest of society, with the only way out being a tunnel through the mountains that could easily be blocked off during an emergency. Police investigation of a [[Vigilante Execution]] qualifies as an emergency to those who participated in said execution, no matter how much the rest of the cast wants to get the hell out of town.

 

== Film ==

* The entire point of [[The Breakfast Club]] is that none of the characters would even speak to each other if they hadn't been forced to stay alone with each other for the day.

* Played out on a large scale in ''[[Tremors]]''. Yes, the monster's stomping ground is a great big valley, but it's a great big valley ''that no one can leave''.

 

== Literature ==

* ''The Invisible Host'': human agency

* Anthony Boucher's ''The Case of the Seven Sneezes''

* [[Agatha Christie]]'s ''[[Ten Little Indians]]'': Bad weather and sabotaged communications.

** Syren island in ''Syren''.

** The Heaps' room in ''Darke''.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* Almost all dramatic [[Journal Roleplay]] games take place in closed circles, forcing characters to stay where they otherwise wouldn't (unless a player drops). This is so prevalent that this type of game has earned the name "spooky jamjar".

* The player gets to inflict this on others in one quest of [[The Elder Scrolls IV Obivion]]. In one of the Dark Brotherhood quests, you are locked in a mansion with a small group of people. The rest of the group think they're being invited in as part of a game by the host where no one can leave until the hidden treasure is found. There is no treasure, and the host has hired you to kill everyone else.

 

 

* A ''Pyramid'' article on unusual artifacts included the Enigma Van. While it could resemble any mode of transport suitable for the setting (from Conundrum Carriage to Secret Starship), the key points were that it was [[Mystery Magnet|attracted to mysteries]], and once it found one it would break down until the mystery was solved. An obvious [[Deconstruction]] of the [[Scooby Doo|Mystery Machine]].

* This is sort of assumed in many ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'' games, since anyone retaining 2 SAN would want to keep far away from the scary things players encounter. But if the players don't go investigate the horrors, there's no game.

 

== Theatre ==

* Also the premise of ''[[The Mousetrap]]''.

* Jean-Paul Sartre's ''[[No Exit]]'' plays with this trope. The characters are only locked in by their own flaws and mediocrity.

 

== Video Games ==

* Goro of ''[[The Dragon Doctors]]'' had to fend off four thieves assaulting a hospital. The first attempt at doing so, activating an ice barrier around the hospital, accidentally locked the thieves ''in'' the hospital with her.

* The entirety of ''[[Problem Sleuth]]'' takes place inside a cruelly labyrinthine office building. The main characters spend all 1600+ pages solving its puzzles both in the building and in their imaginary worlds.

 

== Western Animation ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Mystery Tropes]]

[[Category:Cosmic Horror Tropes]]

[[Category:Stupidity Tropes]]

[[Category:Plots]]