Death Course: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Hanaukyo Maid Tai|Hanaukyo Maid Tai: La Verité]]'' has one hidden under the front lawn of the mansion.

* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', Ed discovers one of these on his way into the Fifth Laboratory. After the first few traps, though, he gets sick of it and transmutes the hallway to have perfectly smooth, unbroken walls and walks straight through.

* [[Gintama]] had one in an episode involving an art museum. It included a [[Corridor Cubbyhole Run]], [[Spikes of Doom]], a treadmill floor and {{spoiler|[[It Makes Sense in Context|a 100% normal old man, his wife, their son and their grandson riding on said treadmill]]}}

* An episode of ''Amagi Brilliant Park'' features major characters Kanie Seiya, Sento Isuzu, Moffle, Tirami, and Macaron finding their way into one. When the first huge ball comes rolling down the hallway, Tirami and Macaron scream, "A cliché trap!" Then the spears and sword blades start jabbing or slicing out of the walls, Isuzu and Macaron fall through trap doors....

 

== Comic Books ==

* In the ''[[Discworld]]'' books, it is heavily implied that Lord Vetinari has one of these set up in the passage that leads to Leonard of Quirm's cell. Or maybe that's just what he wants you to think.

** Leonard apologizes earnestly for designing it, so it is far more likely to be true.

*** Maybe not. Given their reaction when Death arrives, it seems Mrs. Cake might already have been...

** ''Small Gods'' features this as a security precaution against visiting dignitaries from hostile lands. They didn't count on the main character's photographic memory.

* In the [[Young Bond]] novel ''Hurricane Gold'', El Hurican has ''La Avenida de la Murete'': a death course where all the challenges are based on legends of the Mayan gods.

* The titular castle ''[[Malevil]]'' is well, ''[[Shaped Like Itself|a castle]]''. See the [[Real Life]] section below.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]'' loved this trope. Another episode had a Death Course in the form of {{spoiler|an agent-killing automated factory}}.

* The episode "Legacy" of ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' had a villain who would capture and put anyone he deemed useless to society (prostitutes, junkies, vagrants, etc.) in a meat plant he had inherited, which he filled with such pleasant things as vicious dogs, noxious gas spewing vents and a room filled entirely with broken glass. Though he told his captives that he would let them go if they found the exit within a certain amount of time this appeared to just [[I Lied|be a means of inspiring false hope]] and in the end he'd just vivisect them with lots of nasty looking tools.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Tomb of Horrors]]''. Enough said.

 

* ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'', most particularly 2, where a Death Course is seen as a training ground for the Shadow Thieves of Amn.

* ''[[Tomb Raider]]'', in which most of the tombs are equipped with diabolical anti-raider devices.

* About halfway through [[Dead Space 2]], Tiedemann seals Isaac in a section of the Sprawl meant for processing hazardous waste. This includes several large, sharp, spinning objects that will kill you if you get too close. Which must be navigated in Zero G. Arguably the most fun part of the game.

* [[Orcs Must Die]] runs on you creating these, [[Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom|pushing, crushing, smashing]] piercing, slicing, [[Kill It with Fire|burning]], [[Shock and Awe|electricuting]], bludgeoning, freezing and [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|impaling]] hapless orcs.. Then there's the catapult trap which, when placed correctly, can catapult the orcs all the way back to the beginning of said deathcourse.

 

* Kind of subverted by good old ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'': To become the bearded warriors and therefore told the earth orbs location the light warriors are supposed to go through the [https://web.archive.org/web/20090207195739/http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=031202 four hundred bearded trials of strength] which black mage solves (almost) single-handedly by [[Dungeon Bypass|hadokening the whole course]].

* In ''Reality Experiment'', one of the main characters has to run a death course to return to life after being killed. The price of failure is eternal torment. However, after being asked by the Grim Reaper('s assistant) to try to avoid the grinding gears at the beginning, since it jams the whole course and takes forever to clear up, the character throws the Grim Reaper into the gears to jam the whole course and run back to life.

** This becomes a [[Hoist by His Own Petard]] for Pete as, when the regular GM returns, Pete's character is forced to make his way back through his own Death Course, thus missing out on all the action taking place at the same time.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* [[Adventure Time|Gauntlet]] [[Awesome but Impractical|Dock!]]

* In the ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' episode "Read It and Weep", Daring Do faces two sets of these back to back, though we only ever see the first. Said course involves thrown axes, fire pits, crocodiles hanging from the ceiling, arrows, and spikes.

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]

[[Category:Video Game Difficulty Tropes]]

[[Category:This Index Is in The Way]]